Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

An aperture ratio of a semiconductor device is improved. A driver circuit and a pixel are provided over one substrate, and a first thin film transistor in the driver circuit and a second thin film transistor in the pixel each include a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer, an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate insulating layer, source and drain electrode layers over the oxide semiconductor layer, and an oxide insulating layer in contact with part of the oxide semiconductor layer over the gate insulating layer, the oxide semiconductor layer, and the source and drain electrode layers. The gate electrode layer, the gate insulating layer, the oxide semiconductor layer, the source and drain electrode layers, and the oxide insulating layer of the second thin film transistor each have a light-transmitting property.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices including oxidesemiconductors and manufacturing methods thereof.

Note that in this specification, a semiconductor device refers to alldevices that can function by utilizing semiconductor properties, andelectro-optic devices such as display devices, semiconductor circuits,and electronic devices are all semiconductor devices.

BACKGROUND ART

Light-transmitting metal oxides are used in semiconductor devices. Forexample, conductive metal oxides (hereinafter referred to as oxideconductors) such as indium tin oxide (ITO) are used as transparentelectrode materials needed in display devices such as liquid crystaldisplay devices.

In addition, light-transmitting metal oxides also attract attention asmaterials having semiconductor properties. For example, In—Ga—Zn—O-basedoxides and the like are expected to be used as semiconductor materialsneeded in display devices such as liquid crystal display devices. Inparticular, they are expected to be used for channel layers (alsoreferred to as channel formation layers) of thin film transistors (alsoreferred to as TFTs).

Metal oxides having semiconductor properties (hereinafter referred to asoxide semiconductors) are increasingly expected as materials whichreplace or surpass amorphous silicon used in display devices and thelike.

Further, oxide conductors and oxide semiconductors havelight-transmitting properties. Therefore, by forming TFTs with the useof these materials, light-transmitting TFTs can be formed (for example,see Reference 1).

Furthermore, TFTs including oxide semiconductors have high field-effectmobility. Therefore, driver circuits in display devices or the like canbe formed using such TFTs (for example, see Reference 2).

REFERENCE

-   Reference 1: T. Nozawa, “Transparent Circuitry”, Nikkei Electronics,    No. 959, Aug. 27, 2007, pp. 39-52.-   Reference 2: T. Osada et al., “Development of Driver-Integrated    Panel using Amorphous In—Ga—Zn-Oxide TFT”, Proc. SID '09 Digest,    2009, pp. 184-187.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an object of one embodiment of the present invention to reduce themanufacturing cost of a semiconductor device.

It is another object of one embodiment of the present invention toimprove the aperture ratio of a semiconductor device.

It is still another object of one embodiment of the present invention toincrease the resolution of a display portion of a semiconductor device.

It is still another object of one embodiment of the present invention toprovide a semiconductor device which can operate at high speed.

One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor deviceincluding a driver circuit portion and a display portion (also referredto as a pixel portion) over one substrate. The driver circuit portionincludes a driver circuit thin film transistor and a driver circuitwiring. A source electrode (also referred to as a source electrodelayer) and a drain electrode (also referred to as a drain electrodelayer) of the driver circuit thin film transistor are formed using ametal. A channel layer of the driver circuit thin film transistor isformed using an oxide semiconductor. The driver circuit wiring is formedusing a metal. The display portion includes a pixel thin film transistorand a display portion wiring. A source electrode layer and a drainelectrode layer of the pixel thin film transistor are formed using anoxide conductor. A semiconductor layer of the pixel thin film transistoris formed using an oxide semiconductor. The display portion wiring isformed using an oxide conductor.

An inverted-staggered thin film transistor having a bottom-gatestructure is used as each of the pixel thin film transistor and thedriver circuit thin film transistor. The pixel thin film transistor andthe driver circuit thin film transistor are each a channel-etched thinfilm transistor in which an oxide insulating layer is provided incontact with a semiconductor layer which is exposed between a sourceelectrode layer and a drain electrode layer.

Note that a specific manufacturing process of a TFT, a specificstructure of a different element (e.g., a capacitor) included in asemiconductor device, and the like are not disclosed in Reference 1. Inaddition, it is not disclosed that a driver circuit and alight-transmitting TFT are formed over one substrate, either.

In a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention, adriver circuit including a driver circuit TFT and a pixel including apixel TFT are formed over one substrate. Thus, the manufacturing cost ofthe semiconductor device can be reduced.

In a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention, apixel includes a pixel TFT and a pixel wiring. A source electrode and adrain electrode of the pixel TFT are formed using an oxide conductor. Asemiconductor layer of the pixel TFT is formed using an oxidesemiconductor. The pixel wiring is formed using an oxide conductor. Thatis, in the semiconductor device, a region where the pixel TFT and thepixel wiring are formed can be used as an opening portion. Thus, theaperture ratio of the semiconductor device can be improved.

In a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention, apixel includes a pixel TFT and a pixel wiring. A source electrode and adrain electrode of the pixel TFT are formed using an oxide conductor. Asemiconductor layer of the pixel TFT is formed using an oxidesemiconductor. The pixel wiring is formed using an oxide conductor. Thatis, in the semiconductor device, it is possible to determine the pixelsize without limitation by the size of the pixel TFT. Thus, it ispossible to increase the resolution of a display portion of thesemiconductor device.

In a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention, adriver circuit includes a driver circuit TFT and a driver circuitwiring. A source electrode and a drain electrode of the driver circuitTFT are formed using a metal. A channel layer of the driver circuit TFTis formed using an oxide semiconductor. The driver circuit wiring isformed using a metal. That is, in the semiconductor device, the drivercircuit includes a TFT having high field-effect mobility and a wiringhaving low resistance. Thus, the semiconductor device can operate athigh speed.

As an oxide semiconductor used in this specification, for example, anoxide semiconductor expressed by InMO₃(ZnO)_(m) (m>0) can be used. Notethat M denotes one or more metal elements selected from Ga, Fe, Ni, Mn,and Co. As an example, M might be Ga, or might be Ga and the above metalelement other than Ga, for example, M might be Ga and Ni, or Ga and Fe.Further, in the oxide semiconductor, in some cases, a transition metalelement such as Fe or Ni or an oxide of the transition metal element iscontained as an impurity element in addition to the metal elementcontained as M In this specification, among oxide semiconductors whosecomposition formulae are expressed by InMO₃(ZnO)m (m>0), an oxidesemiconductor which contains Ga as M is referred to as anIn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor, and a thin film of theIn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor is referred to as anIn—Ga—Zn—O-based non-single-crystal film.

As a metal oxide used for the oxide semiconductor layer, any of thefollowing metal oxides can be used in addition to the above: anIn—Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anSn—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Al—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anSn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anSn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—O-basedmetal oxide, an Sn—O-based metal oxide, and a Zn—O-based metal oxide.Silicon oxide may be contained in an oxide semiconductor layer formedusing the above metal oxide.

An oxide semiconductor preferably contains In, more preferably In andGa. In obtaining an i-type (intrinsic) oxide semiconductor layer,dehydration or dehydrogenation are effective.

In the case where heat treatment is performed in the atmosphere of aninert gas such as nitrogen or a rare gas (e.g., argon or helium) orunder reduced pressure in the manufacturing process of a semiconductordevice, an oxide semiconductor layer is changed into an oxygen-deficientoxide semiconductor layer by the heat treatment so as to be alow-resistance oxide semiconductor layer, i.e., an n-type (e.g.,n⁻-type) oxide semiconductor layer. Then, the oxide semiconductor layeris made to be in an oxygen excess state by formation of an oxideinsulating layer which is in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer.Accordingly, the oxide semiconductor layer is changed into ahigh-resistance oxide semiconductor layer, i.e., an i-type oxidesemiconductor layer. Thus, it is possible to manufacture a semiconductordevice including a highly reliable thin film transistor with favorableelectrical characteristics.

In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, for dehydrationor dehydrogenation, heat treatment is performed at greater than or equalto 350° C., preferably greater than or equal to 400° C. and less thanthe strain point of a substrate in the atmosphere of an inert gas suchas nitrogen or a rare gas (e.g., argon or helium) or under reducedpressure, so that impurities such as moisture contained in the oxidesemiconductor layer are reduced.

Two peaks of water or at least one peak of water at around 300° C.are/is not detected even when thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) atup to 450° C. is performed on an oxide semiconductor layer subjected todehydration or dehydrogenation. Therefore, even when TDS is performed atup to 450° C. on a thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer subjected to dehydration or dehydrogenation, atleast the peak of water at around 300° C. is not detected.

In addition, it is important not to mix water or hydrogen again into theoxide semiconductor layer by performing cooling without exposure to theair in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device. The oxidesemiconductor layer is changed into a low-resistance oxide semiconductorlayer, i.e., an n-type (e.g., n⁻ type) oxide semiconductor layer throughdehydration or dehydrogenation. Then, the oxide semiconductor layer ischanged into a high-resistance oxide semiconductor layer, i.e., ani-type oxide semiconductor layer. When a thin film transistor is formedusing such an oxide semiconductor layer, the threshold voltage of thethin film transistor can be positive, so that a so-called normally-offswitching element can be realized. In the semiconductor device, it ispreferable that a channel of the thin film transistor be formed withpositive threshold voltage as close to 0 V as possible. Note that if thethreshold voltage of the thin film transistor is negative, the thin filmtransistor tends to be normally on; in other words, current tends toflow between a source electrode and a drain electrode even when gatevoltage is 0 V. For example, in an active matrix display device, theelectrical characteristics of a thin film transistor included in acircuit are important and influence the performance of the displaydevice. Among the electrical characteristics of the thin filmtransistor, the threshold voltage (V_(th)) is particularly important.For example, when the threshold voltage is high or negative even whenfield-effect mobility is high in the thin film transistor, it isdifficult to control the thin film transistor as a circuit. In the casewhere a thin film transistor has high threshold voltage and a largeabsolute value of its threshold voltage, the thin film transistor cannotperform a switching function as a TFT when a TFT is driven at lowvoltage and might be a load. For example, in the case of an n-channelthin film transistor, it is preferable that a channel be formed anddrain current flows after positive voltage is applied to a gateelectrode. A transistor in which a channel is not formed unless drivingvoltage is raised and a transistor in which a channel is formed anddrain current flows even when negative voltage is applied are unsuitablefor a thin film transistor used in a circuit.

In addition, a gas atmosphere in which the temperature is lowered fromthe heating temperature T may be different from a gas atmosphere inwhich the temperature is raised to the heating temperature T. Forexample, with the use of a furnace in which dehydration ordehydrogenation are performed, cooling is performed without exposure tothe air, with the furnace filled with a high-purity oxygen gas or ahigh-purity N₂O gas.

With the use of an oxide semiconductor film cooled slowly (or cooled) inan atmosphere which does not contain moisture (having a dew point ofless than or equal to −40° C., preferably less than or equal to −60° C.)after moisture which is contained in the film is reduced by heattreatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation, the electricalcharacteristics of a thin film transistor are improved andhigh-performance thin film transistors which can be mass-produced arerealized.

In this specification, heat treatment in the atmosphere of an inert gassuch as nitrogen or a rare gas (e.g., argon or helium) or under reducedpressure is referred to as heat treatment for dehydration ordehydrogenation. In this specification, for convenience, dehydration ordehydrogenation refer not only to elimination of H₂ but also toelimination of H, OH, or the like.

In the case where heat treatment is performed in the atmosphere of aninert gas such as nitrogen or a rare gas (e.g., argon or helium) orunder reduced pressure in the manufacturing process of a semiconductordevice, an oxide semiconductor layer is changed into an oxygen-deficientoxide semiconductor layer by the heat treatment so as to be alow-resistance oxide semiconductor layer, i.e., an n-type (e.g.,n⁻-type) oxide semiconductor layer. After that, a region overlappingwith a drain electrode layer is formed as a high-resistance drain region(also referred to as an HRD region) which is an oxygen-deficient region.

Specifically, the carrier concentration of the high-resistance drainregion is greater than or equal to 1×10¹⁷/cm³ and is at least higherthan the carrier concentration of a channel formation region (less than1×10¹⁷/cm³). Note that the carrier concentration in this specificationis a carrier concentration obtained by Hall effect measurement at roomtemperature.

In addition, a low-resistance drain region (also referred to as an LRNregion) may be formed between a drain electrode layer formed using ametal material and an oxide semiconductor layer. Specifically, thecarrier concentration of the low-resistance drain region is higher thanthat of the high-resistance drain region, e.g., in the range of1×10²⁰/cm³ to 1×10²¹/cm³ inclusive.

Then, a channel formation region is formed by making at least part ofthe oxide semiconductor layer subjected to dehydration ordehydrogenation be in an oxygen-excess state so as to obtain ahigh-resistance oxide semiconductor layer, i.e., an i-type oxidesemiconductor layer. Note that as a method for making the oxidesemiconductor layer subjected to dehydration or dehydrogenation be in anoxygen-excess state, a method of forming an oxide insulating layer whichis in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer subjected todehydration or dehydrogenation, for example, by a sputtering method isgiven. In addition, after the formation of the oxide insulating layer,heat treatment (e.g., heat treatment in an atmosphere containingoxygen), cooling treatment in an oxygen atmosphere or cooling treatmentin ultra-dry air (having a dew point of less than or equal to −40° C.,preferably less than or equal to −60° C.) after heating in an inert gasatmosphere, or the like may be performed.

The channel formation region can be formed in such a manner that asource electrode layer and a drain electrode layer are formed using ametal material such as Ti on and in contact with the oxide semiconductorlayer subjected to dehydration or dehydrogenation, and an exposed regionof the oxide semiconductor layer which does not overlap with the sourceelectrode layer and the drain electrode layer is selectively made to bein an oxygen-excess state. In the case where the oxide semiconductorlayer is selectively made to be in an oxygen-excess state, ahigh-resistance drain region overlapping with the source electrode layerand a high-resistance drain region overlapping with the drain electrodelayer are formed, and the channel formation region is formed between thehigh-resistance drain regions. That is, the channel formation region isformed between the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layerin a self-aligned manner.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible tomanufacture a semiconductor device including a highly reliable thin filmtransistor with favorable electrical characteristics.

Note that by forming the high-resistance drain region in the oxidesemiconductor layer overlapping with the drain electrode layer (or thesource electrode layer), the reliability of a driver circuit can beimproved. Specifically, by forming the high-resistance drain region, thetransistor can have a structure in which conductivity can be variedgradually from the drain electrode layer to the high-resistance drainregion and the channel formation region. Therefore, in the case wherethe transistor is operated while the drain electrode layer is connectedto a wiring for supplying a high power supply potential VDD, even when ahigh electric field is applied between the gate electrode layer and thedrain electrode layer, the high-resistance drain region serves as abuffer and the high electric field is not applied locally, so that thewithstand voltage of the transistor can be improved.

In addition, by forming the high-resistance drain region, the amount ofleakage current in the driver circuit can be reduced. Specifically, byforming the high-resistance drain region, the leakage current of thetransistor, which flows between the drain electrode layer and the sourceelectrode layer, flows sequentially through the drain electrode layer,the high-resistance drain region on the drain electrode layer side, thechannel formation region, the high-resistance drain region on the sourceelectrode layer side, and the source electrode layer. In this case, inthe channel formation region, leakage current flowing from thehigh-resistance drain region on the drain electrode layer side to thechannel formation region can be concentrated on the vicinity of aninterface between the channel formation region and a gate insulatinglayer, which has high resistance when the transistor is off. Thus, theamount of leakage current in a back channel portion (part of a surfaceof the channel formation region, which is apart from the gate electrodelayer) can be reduced.

Further, when the high-resistance drain region overlapping with thesource electrode layer and the high-resistance drain region overlappingwith the drain electrode layer overlap with part of the gate electrodelayer with the gate insulating layer therebetween, although depending onthe width of the gate electrode layer, the intensity of an electricfield in the vicinity of an end portion of the drain electrode layer canbe reduced more effectively.

One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor deviceincluding a driver circuit having a first thin film transistor and apixel having a second thin film transistor over one substrate. The firstthin film transistor and the second thin film transistor each include agate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer over the gate electrodelayer, an oxide semiconductor layer over the gate insulating layer, asource electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxidesemiconductor layer, and an oxide insulating layer in contact with partof the oxide semiconductor layer over the gate insulating layer, theoxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode layer, and the drainelectrode layer. The gate electrode layer, the gate insulating layer,the oxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode layer, the drainelectrode layer, and the oxide insulating layer of the second thin filmtransistor each have a light-transmitting property. The source electrodelayer and the drain electrode layer of the first thin film transistorare formed using a material different from that of the source electrodelayer and the drain electrode layer of the second thin film transistorand have lower resistance than that of the source electrode layer andthe drain electrode layer of the second thin film transistor.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, in thesemiconductor device, the source electrode layer and the drain electrodelayer of the first thin film transistor may be formed using a materialcontaining an element selected from the group consisting of Al, Cr, Cu,Ta, Ti, Mo, and W as its main component, or a stack layer including aplurality of films each containing an alloy containing at least one ofthe elements.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, in thesemiconductor device, the source electrode layer and the drain electrodelayer of the second thin film transistor may be formed using indiumoxide, an alloy of indium oxide and tin oxide, an alloy of indium oxideand zinc oxide, or zinc oxide.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, thesemiconductor device may further include a capacitor portion over thesubstrate. The capacitor portion includes a capacitor wiring and acapacitor electrode overlapping with the capacitor wiring, and thecapacitor wiring and the capacitor electrode each have alight-transmitting property.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, thesemiconductor device may further include a conductive layer overlappingwith the gate electrode layer over the oxide insulating layer of thefirst thin film transistor.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, thesemiconductor device may further include a low-resistance drain regionbetween the oxide semiconductor layer and each of the source and drainelectrode layers of the first thin film transistor, and thelow-resistance drain region may be formed using the same material asthat of the source and drain electrode layers of the second thin filmtransistor.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, in thesemiconductor device, a region of the oxide semiconductor layer of thefirst thin film transistor, which overlaps with the source or drainelectrode layer, has lower resistance than a channel formation region ofthe first thin film transistor.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device including a driver circuit having afirst thin film transistor and a pixel having a second thin filmtransistor over one substrate. The method includes: forming alight-transmitting conductive film over a substrate and selectivelyetching the light-transmitting conductive film through a firstphotolithography process, wherein a first gate electrode layer servingas a gate electrode layer of the first thin film transistor and a secondgate electrode layer serving as a gate electrode layer of the secondthin film transistor are formed; forming a gate insulating layer overthe first gate electrode layer and the second gate electrode layer;forming an oxide semiconductor film over the gate insulating layer andselectively etching the oxide semiconductor film through a secondphotolithography process, wherein a first oxide semiconductor layer anda second oxide semiconductor layer which are island-like oxidesemiconductor layers are formed; dehydrating or dehydrogenating thefirst oxide semiconductor layer and the second oxide semiconductorlayer; sequentially forming an oxide conductive film and a conductivefilm over the first and second oxide semiconductor layers which aredehydrated or dehydrogenated and selectively etching the oxideconductive film and the conductive film through a third photolithographyprocess and a fourth photolithography process, wherein a pair oflow-resistance drain regions are formed over the first oxidesemiconductor layer, a pair of conductive layers are formed over thepair of low-resistance drain regions to form a first source electrodelayer and a first drain electrode layer serving as a source electrodelayer and a drain electrode layer respectively of the first thin filmtransistor, and a second source electrode layer and a second drainelectrode layer serving as a source electrode layer and a drainelectrode layer respectively of the second thin film transistor areformed over the second oxide semiconductor layer; and forming an oxideinsulating layer in contact with part of the first oxide semiconductorlayer and part of the second oxide semiconductor layer over the gateinsulating layer, the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxidesemiconductor layer, the first source electrode layer, the first drainelectrode layer, the second source electrode layer, and the second drainelectrode layer.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device including a driver circuit having afirst thin film transistor and a pixel having a second thin filmtransistor over one substrate. The method includes: forming alight-transmitting conductive film over a substrate and selectivelyetching the light-transmitting conductive film through a firstphotolithography process, wherein a first gate electrode layer servingas a gate electrode layer of the first thin film transistor and a secondgate electrode layer serving as a gate electrode layer of the secondthin film transistor are formed; forming a gate insulating layer overthe first gate electrode layer and the second gate electrode layer;forming an oxide semiconductor film over the gate insulating layer;dehydrating or dehydrogenating the oxide semiconductor film;sequentially forming an oxide conductive film and a conductive film overthe oxide semiconductor film which is dehydrated or dehydrogenated andselectively etching the oxide semiconductor film, the oxide conductivefilm, and the conductive film through a second photolithography processand a third photolithography process, wherein a pair of low-resistancedrain regions are formed over a first oxide semiconductor layer, a pairof conductive layers are formed over the pair of low-resistance drainregions to form a first source electrode layer and a first drainelectrode layer serving as a source electrode layer and a drainelectrode layer respectively of the first thin film transistor, and asecond source electrode layer and a second drain electrode layer servingas a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer respectively ofthe second thin film transistor are formed over a second oxidesemiconductor layer; and forming an oxide insulating layer in contactwith part of the first oxide semiconductor layer and part of the secondoxide semiconductor layer over the gate insulating layer, the firstoxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, thefirst source electrode layer, the first drain electrode layer, thesecond source electrode layer, and the second drain electrode layer.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, in themethod for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the thirdphotolithography process may be performed using a multi-tone mask.

Note that ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” in thisspecification are used for convenience and do not denote the order ofsteps and the stacking order of layers. In addition, the ordinal numbersin this specification do not denote particular names which specify thepresent invention.

Further, as a display device including a driver circuit, there are alight-emitting display device including a light-emitting element and adisplay device including an electrophoretic display element, which isalso referred to as an electronic paper, in addition to a liquid crystaldisplay device.

In a light-emitting display device including a light-emitting element, aplurality of thin film transistors are included in a pixel portion. Thepixel portion includes a region where a gate electrode of a thin filmtransistor is connected to a source wiring (also referred to as a sourcewiring layer) or a drain wiring (also referred to as a drain wiringlayer) of a different transistor. In addition, a driver circuit of thelight-emitting display device including a light-emitting elementincludes a region where a gate electrode of a thin film transistor isconnected to a source wiring or a drain wiring of the thin filmtransistor.

It is possible to manufacture a thin film transistor having stableelectrical characteristics. Therefore, a semiconductor device whichincludes a highly reliable thin film transistor with favorableelectrical characteristics can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A1 to 1C illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 2A to 2E illustrate a method of manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 6A1 to 6C illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 7A and 7B each illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 8A and 8B each illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 10A1 to 10B illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIG. 12 illustrates a pixel equivalent circuit of a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 13A to 13C each illustrate a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are block diagrams each illustrating a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are respectively a circuit diagram and a timing chartof a signal line driver circuit.

FIGS. 16A to 16C are circuit diagrams each illustrating a configurationof a shift register.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are respectively a timing chart and a circuit diagramof a shift register.

FIG. 18 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 19 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 20 is an external view illustrating an example of an e-book reader.

FIG. 21A is an external view of an example of a television device andFIG. 21B is an external view of an example of a digital photo frame.

FIGS. 22A and 22B are external views each illustrating an example of agame machine.

FIG. 23A is an external view illustrating an example of a portablecomputer and FIG. 23B is an external view illustrating an example of amobile phone.

FIG. 24 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 25 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 26 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 27 is a circuit diagram of a semiconductor device.

FIG. 28 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 29 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 30 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 31 is a circuit diagram of a semiconductor device.

FIG. 32 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 33 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 34 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 35 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 36 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIG. 37 illustrates a semiconductor device.

FIGS. 38A to 38E illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 39A to 39C illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

FIGS. 40A to 40C illustrate a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited tothe following description, and various changes for the modes and detailsthereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art unless such changesdepart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.Therefore, the present invention should not be interpreted as beinglimited to the description of the embodiments below. In the structuresto be given below, the same portions or portions having similarfunctions are denoted by the same reference numerals in differentdrawings, and explanation thereof will not be repeated.

Note that the contents of the embodiments can be appropriately combinedwith each other or replaced with each other.

Embodiment 1

A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the semiconductordevice will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A1 to 1C, FIGS. 2A to2E, and FIGS. 3A to 3C. FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate an example of across-sectional structure of two thin film transistors formed over onesubstrate. A thin film transistor 410 and a thin film transistor 420illustrated in FIGS. 1A1 to 1C are each a kind of channel-etched bottomgate transistor.

FIG. 1A1 is a plan view of the thin film transistor 410 arranged in adriver circuit, FIG. 1A2 is a plan view of the thin film transistor 420arranged in a pixel, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view illustrating across-sectional structure along line C1-C2 in FIG. 1A1 and across-sectional structure along line D1-D2 in FIG. 1A2, and FIG. 1C is across-sectional view illustrating a cross-sectional structure along lineC3-C4 in FIG. 1A1 and a cross-sectional structure along line D3-D4 inFIG. 1A2.

The thin film transistor 410 arranged in the driver circuit is achannel-etched thin film transistor and includes a gate electrode layer411; a first gate insulating layer 402 a; a second gate insulating layer402 b; an oxide semiconductor layer 412 including at least a channelformation region 413, a high-resistance drain region 414 a, and a secondhigh-resistance drain region 414 b; a low-resistance drain region 408 a;a low-resistance drain region 408 b; a source electrode layer 415 a; anda drain electrode layer 415 b over a substrate 400 having an insulatingsurface. Moreover, an oxide insulating layer 416 which covers the thinfilm transistor 410 and is in contact with the channel formation region413 is provided.

Note that the high-resistance drain region is a region whose resistancevalue is lower than that of the channel formation region, and thelow-resistance drain region is a region whose resistance value is lowerthan that of the high-resistance drain region.

The high-resistance drain region 414 a is formed in contact with abottom surface of the low-resistance drain region 408 a in aself-aligned manner. The high-resistance drain region 414 b is formed incontact with a bottom surface of the low-resistance drain region 408 bin a self-aligned manner. The channel formation region 413 is in contactwith the oxide insulating layer 416, has a small thickness, and is aregion with higher resistance than that of the high-resistance drainregion 414 a and the high-resistance drain region 414 b (an i-typeregion).

In order to reduce the resistance of the wiring in the thin filmtransistor 410, a metal material is preferably used for the sourceelectrode layer 415 a and the drain electrode layer 415 b.

When a pixel portion and a driver circuit are formed over one substratein a semiconductor device of this embodiment, in the driver circuit,positive voltage or negative voltage is applied between a sourceelectrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor included in alogic gate such as an inverter circuit, a NAND circuit, a NOR circuit,or a latch circuit and a thin film transistor included in an analogcircuit such as a sense amplifier, a constant voltage generationcircuit, or a VCO. Consequently, the width of the high-resistance drainregion 414 b that needs high withstand voltage may be designed to belarger than the width of the high-resistance drain region 414 a.Moreover, the width of a region of each of the high-resistance drainregion 414 a and the high-resistance drain region 414 b which overlapswith the gate electrode layer 411 may be increased.

The thin film transistor 410 arranged in the driver circuit is describedusing a single-gate thin film transistor; a multi-gate thin filmtransistor including a plurality of channel formation regions can beformed when needed.

In addition, because the low-resistance drain regions 408 a and 408 bare provided, the thin film transistor 410 can be operated more stablyalso in terms of heat than a thin film transistor with a Schottkyjunction. By intentionally providing the low-resistance drain regionwith a higher carrier concentration than that of the oxide semiconductorlayer as described above, ohmic contact is obtained.

Furthermore, a conductive layer 417 is provided above the channelformation region 413 so as to overlap with the channel formation region413. The conductive layer 417 is electrically connected to the gateelectrode layer 411 so that the conductive layer 417 and the gateelectrode layer 411 have the same potential, whereby a gate voltage canbe applied from above and below the oxide semiconductor layer 412 placedbetween the gate electrode layer 411 and the conductive layer 417.Alternatively, when the gate electrode layer 411 and the conductivelayer 417 are made to have different potentials, for example, one ofthem has a fixed potential, a GND potential, or 0 V, electricalcharacteristics of the TFT, such as the threshold voltage, can becontrolled. In other words, one of the gate electrode layer 411 and theconductive layer 417 functions as a first gate electrode layer, and theother of the gate electrode layer 411 and the conductive layer 417functions as a second gate electrode layer, whereby the thin filmtransistor 410 can be used as a thin film transistor having fourterminals.

Further, a protective insulating layer 403 and a planarizationinsulating layer 404 are stacked between the conductive layer 417 andthe oxide insulating layer 416.

The protective insulating layer 403 is preferably in contact with thefirst gate insulating layer 402 a or an insulating film serving as abase provided below the protective insulating layer 403, and blocksentry of impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW from a sidesurface of the substrate 400. It is particularly effective to use asilicon nitride film as the first gate insulating layer 402 a or theinsulating film serving as the base which is in contact with theprotective insulating layer 403.

The thin film transistor 420 arranged in the pixel is a channel-etchedthin film transistor and includes a gate electrode layer 421; the firstgate insulating layer 402 a; the second gate insulating layer 402 b; anoxide semiconductor layer 422 including at least a channel formationregion 423, a high-resistance drain region 424 a, and a high-resistancedrain region 424 b; a source electrode layer 409 a; and a drainelectrode layer 409 b over the substrate 400 having an insulatingsurface. In addition, the oxide insulating layer 416 which covers thethin film transistor 420 and is in contact with the upper surface andthe side surfaces of the oxide semiconductor layer 422 is provided.

Note that AC drive is performed in the semiconductor device of thisembodiment in order to prevent deterioration in liquid crystal. Throughthe AC drive, the polarity of a signal potential applied to a pixelelectrode layer is inverted to be positive or negative everypredetermined period. In a TFT which is connected to the pixel electrodelayer, a pair of electrodes function as a source electrode layer and adrain electrode layer. In this specification, for convenience, one of apair of electrodes of a thin film transistor in a pixel is referred toas a source electrode layer and the other of the electrodes is referredto as a drain electrode layer; however, practically, one of theelectrodes alternately functions as the source electrode layer and thedrain electrode layer in the case of AC drive. In addition, in order toreduce the amount of leakage current, the width of the gate electrodelayer 421 in the thin film transistor 420 arranged in the pixel may bemade smaller than the width of the gate electrode layer 411 in the thinfilm transistor 410 arranged in the driver circuit. Further, in order toreduce the amount of leakage current, the gate electrode layer 421 inthe thin film transistor 420 arranged in the pixel may be designed so asnot to overlap with the source electrode layer 409 a or the drainelectrode layer 409 b.

The high-resistance drain region 424 a is formed in contact with abottom surface of the source electrode layer 409 a in a self-alignedmanner. The high-resistance drain region 424 b is formed in contact witha bottom surface of the drain electrode layer 409 b in a self-alignedmanner. The channel formation region 423 is in contact with the oxideinsulating layer 416, has a small thickness, and is a region havinghigher resistance than the high-resistance drain regions 424 a and 424 b(an i-type region).

Heat treatment for reducing impurities such as moisture (heat treatmentfor dehydration or dehydrogenation) is performed after an oxidesemiconductor film used for forming the oxide semiconductor layers 412and 422 is deposited. Reduction of the carrier concentration in theoxide semiconductor layers 412 and 422, by, for example, forming anoxide insulating film in contact with the formed oxide semiconductorlayers 412 and 422 after the heat treatment for dehydration ordehydrogenation and slow cooling leads to improvement of the electricalcharacteristics and reliability of the thin film transistors 410 and420.

The oxide semiconductor layer 412 is formed below and to overlap withpart of the source electrode layer 415 a and the drain electrode layer415 b. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 412 overlaps with thegate electrode layer 411 with the first gate insulating layer 402 a andthe second gate insulating layer 402 b interposed therebetween. Further,the oxide semiconductor layer 422 is formed below and to overlap withpart of the source electrode layer 409 a and the drain electrode layer409 b. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 422 overlaps with thegate electrode layer 421 with the first gate insulating layer 402 a andthe second gate insulating layer 402 b interposed therebetween.

A light-transmitting conductive film is used for the source electrodelayer 409 a and the drain electrode layer 409 b of the thin filmtransistor 420 so as to realize a display device with a high apertureratio.

Moreover, a light-transmitting conductive film is also used for the gateelectrode layer 421 in the thin film transistor 420.

In the pixel in which the thin film transistor 420 is arranged, aconductive film that transmits visible light is used for a pixelelectrode layer 427 or a different electrode layer (e.g., a capacitorelectrode layer) or a different wiring layer (e.g., a capacitor wiringlayer), which realizes a display device with a high aperture ratio.Needless to say, it is preferable to use a film that transmits visiblelight for the first gate insulating layer 402 a, the second gateinsulating layer 402 b, and the oxide insulating layer 416.

In this specification, a conductive film that transmits visible lightrefers to a film having a visible light transmittance of 75% to 100%;when the film has conductivity, it is also referred to as a transparentconductive film. Further, a conductive film that is semi-transparent tovisible light may be used for the gate electrode layer, the sourceelectrode layer, the drain electrode layer, the pixel electrode layer,or a different electrode layer or a different wiring layer.Semi-transparency to visible light means that the visible lighttransmittance is 50% to 75%.

A process for manufacturing the thin film transistors 410 and 420 overthe same substrate will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2A to2E and FIGS. 3A to 3C.

First, a light-transmitting conductive film is formed over the substrate400 having an insulating surface. Then, a resist mask is formed over theconductive film through a first photolithography process and selectiveetching is performed using the resist mask, whereby the gate electrodelayers 411 and 421 are formed. Moreover, a capacitor wiring (alsoreferred to as a capacitor wiring layer) is formed in the pixel portionfrom the same material as that for the gate electrode layers 411 and 421also through the first photolithography process. Furthermore, when acapacitor is necessary in a driver circuit as well as in the pixelportion, the capacitor wiring is also formed in the driver circuit. Notethat the resist mask may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomask isnot used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jet method, whichresults in reducing manufacturing costs.

Although there is no particular limitation on a substrate which can beused as the substrate 400 having an insulating surface, the substrateneeds to have heat resistance high enough to withstand at least heattreatment to be performed later. As the substrate 400 having aninsulating surface, a glass substrate of barium borosilicate glass,aluminoborosilicate glass, or the like can be used.

When the temperature of the heat treatment performed later is high, asubstrate having a strain point of greater than or equal to 730° C. ispreferably used as a glass substrate applicable to the substrate 400. Asthe glass substrate, a glass material such as aluminosilicate glass,aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium borosilicate glass is used, forexample. Note that more practical glass with heat resistance can beobtained when it contains a larger amount of barium oxide (BaO) thanboric acid. Therefore, a glass substrate containing a larger amount ofBaO than B₂O₃ is preferably used.

Note that a substrate formed of an insulator, such as a ceramicsubstrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate, may be used asthe substrate 400 instead of the glass substrate. Alternatively,crystallized glass or the like may be used as the substrate 400.

An insulating film serving as a base film may be provided between thesubstrate 400 and the gate electrode layers 411 and 421. The base filmhas a function of preventing diffusion of an impurity element from thesubstrate 400, and can be formed with a single film or a stack filmusing one or more of a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxide film, asilicon nitride oxide film, and a silicon oxynitride film.

As a material for the gate electrode layers 411 and 421, a conductivematerial that transmits visible light, for example, any of the followingmetal oxides can be used: an In—Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—O-basedmetal oxide, and a Zn—O-based metal oxide. The thickness of the gateelectrode layers 411 and 421 is set within the range of 50 nm to 300 nminclusive. The metal oxide used for the gate electrode layers 411 and421 is deposited by a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method(e.g., an electron beam evaporation method), an arc discharge ionplating method, or a spray method. When a sputtering method is employed,it is preferable that deposition be performed using a target containingSiO₂ of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the light-transmitting conductive filmwhich is formed so as to prevent crystallization at the time of the heattreatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation in a later step.

Then, the resist mask is removed, and a gate insulating layer is formedover the gate electrode layers 411 and 421.

The gate insulating layer can be formed with a single layer or a stackusing one or more of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon nitride layer, asilicon oxynitride layer, and a silicon nitride oxide layer by a plasmaCVD method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, when asilicon oxynitride layer is formed, it may be formed using SiH₄, oxygen,and nitrogen as deposition gases by a plasma CVD method.

In this embodiment, the gate insulating layer is a stack of the firstgate insulating layer 402 a with a thickness of 50 nm to 200 nminclusive and the second gate insulating layer 402 b with a thickness of50 nm to 300 nm inclusive. As the first gate insulating layer 402 a, a100-nm-thick silicon nitride film or silicon nitride oxide film is used.As the second gate insulating layer 402 b, a 100-nm-thick silicon oxidefilm is used.

An oxide semiconductor film 430 with a thickness of 2 nm to 200 nminclusive is formed over the second gate insulating layer 402 b (seeFIG. 2A). The oxide semiconductor film 430 preferably has a thickness ofless than or equal to 50 nm such that an oxide semiconductor layerformed later is in an amorphous state even when heat treatment fordehydration or dehydrogenation is performed after the oxidesemiconductor film 430 is formed. The small thickness of the oxidesemiconductor film 430 can prevent the oxide semiconductor layer formedlater from being crystallized when heat treatment is performed after theformation of the oxide semiconductor film.

Note that before the oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputteringmethod, dust attached to a surface of the second gate insulating layer402 b is preferably removed by reverse sputtering in which plasma isgenerated by introduction of an argon gas. The reverse sputtering refersto a method in which an RF power source is used for application ofvoltage to a substrate side in an argon atmosphere so that plasma isgenerated around the substrate to modify a surface. Note that instead ofan argon atmosphere, nitrogen, helium, oxygen, or the like may be used.

As the oxide semiconductor film 430, an In—Ga—Zn—O-basednon-single-crystal film, an In—Sn—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film,an In—Al—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Al—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, anSn—Al—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Sn—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, anAl—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Sn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, or aZn—O-based oxide semiconductor film is used. In this embodiment, theoxide semiconductor film 430 is formed by a sputtering method with theuse of an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor target. Alternatively,the oxide semiconductor film 430 can be formed by a sputtering method ina rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere, or anatmosphere including a rare gas (typically argon) and oxygen. When asputtering method is employed, it is preferable that deposition of theoxide semiconductor film 430 be performed using a target containing SiO₂of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the oxide semiconductor film 430 so asto prevent crystallization of the oxide semiconductor layer formed laterat the time of the heat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation ina later step.

Then, a resist mask is formed over the oxide semiconductor film 430through a second photolithography process and selective etching isperformed using the resist mask, whereby the oxide semiconductor film430 is processed into island-like oxide semiconductor layers. Inaddition, the resist mask for forming the island-like oxidesemiconductor layers may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomask isnot used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jet method, whichresults in reducing manufacturing costs.

Then, the resist mask is removed, and the oxide semiconductor layers aresubjected to dehydration or dehydrogenation. The temperature of firstheat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation is greater than orequal to 350° C. and less than the strain point of the substrate,preferably greater than or equal to 400° C. Here, the substrate 400 overwhich the oxide semiconductor layers are formed is put in an electricfurnace which is a kind of heat treatment apparatus and heat treatmentis performed on the oxide semiconductor layers in a nitrogen atmosphere,cooling is performed without exposure to the air, and water or hydrogenare prevented from being mixed into the oxide semiconductor layersagain; thus, oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 are obtained (seeFIG. 2B). In this embodiment, the same furnace is used from the heattemperature T at which the oxide semiconductor layer is subjected todehydration or dehydrogenation to a temperature low enough to preventwater from entering again; specifically, slow cooling is performed in anitrogen atmosphere until the temperature drops by 100° C. or more fromthe heat temperature T. Moreover, without limitation to a nitrogenatmosphere, dehydration or dehydrogenation may be performed in a raregas atmosphere (e.g., helium, neon, or argon) or under reduced pressure.

Note that in the first heat treatment, it is preferable that water,hydrogen, and the like be not contained in nitrogen or a rare gas suchas helium, neon, or argon. Alternatively, the purity of nitrogen or arare gas such as helium, neon, or argon which is introduced into theheat treatment apparatus is preferably greater than or equal to 6 N(99.9999%), more preferably greater than or equal to 7 N (99.99999%)(i.e., the impurity concentration is preferably less than or equal to 1ppm, more preferably less than or equal to 0.1 ppm).

In some cases, the oxide semiconductor layer is crystallized to be amicrocrystalline layer or a polycrystalline layer depending on theconditions of the first heat treatment or the material of the oxidesemiconductor layer.

In addition, the first heat treatment can also be performed on the oxidesemiconductor film before being processed into the island-like oxidesemiconductor layers. In such a case, the substrate is taken out of theheat treatment apparatus after the first heat treatment, and the resistmask is formed through the photolithography process. Then, selectiveetching is performed using the resist mask, whereby the oxidesemiconductor film is processed.

In addition, before the oxide semiconductor film is formed, heattreatment (at greater than or equal to 400° C. and less than the strainpoint of the substrate) may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere(nitrogen or a rare gas such as helium, neon, or argon), an oxygenatmosphere, or under reduced pressure, thereby removing impurities suchas hydrogen and water contained in the gate insulating layers.

Then, an oxide conductive film is formed over the oxide semiconductorlayers 431 and 432 and the second gate insulating layer 402 b, and ametal conductive film is formed over the oxide conductive film. Afterthat, resist masks 433 a and 433 b are formed through a thirdphotolithography process, and selective etching is performed, wherebyoxide conductive layers 406 and 407 and conductive layers 434 and 435are formed (see FIG. 2C).

As a material of the oxide conductive film, a conductive material thattransmits visible light, for example, an In—Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide,an In—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—O-basedmetal oxide, or a Zn—O-based metal oxide can be employed. The thicknessof the oxide conductive film is selected as appropriate in the range of50 nm to 300 nm inclusive. As a deposition method of the oxideconductive film, a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method (e.g.,an electron beam evaporation method), an arc discharge ion platingmethod, or a spray method is used. When a sputtering method is employed,it is preferable that deposition be performed using a target containingSiO₂ of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the light-transmitting conductive filmso as to prevent crystallization of the oxide conductive layers 406 and407 at the time of the heat treatment in a later step.

Examples of the material for the metal conductive film are an elementselected from Al, Cr, Cu, Ta, Ti, Mo, and W; an alloy containing any ofthese elements as a component; and an alloy containing these elements incombination.

As the metal conductive film, a three-layer stack film including atitanium film, an aluminum film provided over the titanium film, and atitanium film provided over the aluminum film, or a three-layer stackfilm including a molybdenum film, an aluminum film provided over themolybdenum film, and a molybdenum film provided over the aluminum filmis preferably used. Needless to say, a single layer film, a two-layerstack film, or a stack film of four or more layers may also be used asthe metal conductive film.

The resist masks 433 a and 433 b for forming the oxide conductive layers406 and 407 and the conductive layers 434 and 435 may be formed by anink-jet method. A photomask is not used when the resist masks 433 a and433 b are formed by an ink-jet method, which results in reducingmanufacturing costs.

Next, the resist masks 433 a and 433 b are removed, and resist masks 436a and 436 b are formed through a fourth photolithography process. Then,selective etching is performed, whereby the low-resistance drain region408 a, the low-resistance drain region 408 b, the source electrode layer415 a, the drain electrode layer 415 b, the source electrode layer 409a, the drain electrode layer 409 b, a conductive layer 425 a, and aconductive layer 425 b are formed (see FIG. 2D). Note that, as for theoxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432, only part thereof are etchedaway, and thus, the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 each have agroove (a depression portion). The resist masks 436 a and 436 b forforming the grooves (the depression portions) in the oxide semiconductorlayers 431 and 432 may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomask isnot used when the resist masks 436 a and 436 b are formed by an ink-jetmethod, which results in reducing manufacturing costs.

Note that in this etching process, etching conditions may be set asappropriate such that the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 inlower layers can remain. For example, the etching time may becontrolled.

In addition, a material for forming the oxide semiconductor layers 431and 432 and a material for forming the oxide conductive layers 406 and407 each preferably has a high etching selectivity ratio with respect toother materials. For example, a metal oxide material containing Sn(e.g., SnZnO_(x) (x>0), SnGaZnO_(x), or the like) may be used as thematerial for the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432, and ITO or thelike may be used as the material for the oxide conductive layers 406 and407.

Then, the resist masks 436 a and 436 b are removed, and a resist mask438 is formed through a fifth photolithography process. Then, selectiveetching is performed, whereby the conductive layers 425 a and 425 b areremoved (see FIG. 2E).

Since the conductive layer 425 a overlapping with the source electrodelayer 409 a and the conductive layer 425 b overlapping with the drainelectrode layer 409 b are selectively removed through the fifthphotolithography process, the materials for the oxide semiconductorlayer 432, the source electrode layer 409 a, and the drain electrodelayer 409 b and the etching conditions are adjusted as appropriate sothat they are not removed in etching the conductive layers 425 a and 425b.

The oxide insulating layer 416 serving as a protective insulating filmis formed in contact with the grooves (the depression portions) in theoxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432.

The oxide insulating layer 416 has a thickness of at least 1 nm and canbe formed by a method by which impurities such as water or hydrogen arenot mixed into the oxide insulating layer 416, such as a sputteringmethod, as appropriate. In this embodiment, a 300-nm-thick silicon oxidefilm is formed as the oxide insulating layer 416 by a sputtering method.The substrate temperature at the film formation may be in the range ofroom temperature to 300° C. inclusive, and is 100° C. in thisembodiment. The silicon oxide film can be deposited by a sputteringmethod in a rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere,or an atmosphere containing a rare gas (typically argon) and oxygen.Moreover, a silicon oxide target or a silicon target can be used as atarget. For example, the silicon oxide film can be formed using asilicon target in an atmosphere containing oxygen and nitrogen by asputtering method. The oxide insulating layer 416 which is formed incontact with part of the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 isformed using an inorganic insulating film that does not containimpurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW and blocks entry ofsuch impurities from the outside, typically a silicon oxide film, asilicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum oxide film, an aluminumoxynitride film, or the like.

Next, second heat treatment (at preferably 200° C. to 400° C. inclusive,for example, 250° C. to 350° C. inclusive) is performed in an inert gasatmosphere or an oxygen gas atmosphere. For example, the second heattreatment is performed at 250° C. for one hour in a nitrogen atmosphere.With the second heat treatment, heat is applied while the grooves in theoxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 are in contact with the oxideinsulating layer 416.

Through the above process, the resistance of the oxide semiconductorlayers 431 and 432 is reduced, and part of the oxide semiconductorlayers 431 and 432 are in an oxygen-excess state selectively. As aresult, the channel formation region 413 overlapping with the gateelectrode layer 411 becomes i-type, and the channel formation region 423overlapping with the gate electrode layer 421 becomes i-type. Further,the high-resistance drain region 414 a is formed in a self-alignedmanner in a portion of the oxide semiconductor layer 431 which overlapswith the source electrode layer 415 a, the high-resistance drain region414 b is formed in a self-aligned manner in a portion of the oxidesemiconductor layer 431 which overlaps with the drain electrode layer415 b, the high-resistance drain region 424 a is formed in aself-aligned manner in a portion of the oxide semiconductor layer 432which overlaps with the source electrode layer 409 a, and thehigh-resistance drain region 424 b is formed in a self-aligned manner ina portion of the oxide semiconductor layer 432 which overlaps with thedrain electrode layer 409 b (see FIG. 3A).

Note that the high-resistance drain region 414 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 414 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layer 431overlapping with the drain electrode layer 415 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 415 a), so that the reliability of the driver circuitcan be increased. Specifically, with the formation of thehigh-resistance drain region 414 b, the conductivity can be graduallyvaried from the drain electrode layer 415 b to the high-resistance drainregion 414 b and the channel formation region in the transistor. Thus,when the transistor is operated while the drain electrode layer 415 b isconnected to a wiring that supplies a high power supply potential VDD,even when a high electric field is applied between the gate electrodelayer 411 and the drain electrode layer 415 b, the high-resistance drainregion 414 b serves as a buffer and the high electric field is notapplied locally, so that the transistor can have increased withstandvoltage.

When the high-resistance drain region 414 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 414 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layer 431overlapping with the drain electrode layer 415 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 415 a), the amount of leakage current in the transistorin the driver circuit can be reduced.

Note that the high-resistance drain region 424 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 424 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layer 432overlapping with the drain electrode layer 409 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 409 a), so that the reliability of the pixel can beincreased. Specifically, with the formation of the high-resistance drainregion 424 b, the conductivity can be gradually varied from the drainelectrode layer 409 b to the high-resistance drain region 424 b and thechannel formation region in the transistor. Thus, when the transistor isoperated while the drain electrode layer 409 b is connected to a wiringthat supplies a high power supply potential VDD, even when a highelectric field is applied between the gate electrode layer 421 and thedrain electrode layer 409 b, the high-resistance drain region 424 bserves as a buffer and the high electric field is not applied locally,so that the transistor can have increased withstand voltage.

When the high-resistance drain region 424 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 424 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layer 432overlapping with the drain electrode layer 409 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 409 a), the amount of leakage current in the transistorin the pixel can be reduced.

Next, the protective insulating layer 403 is formed over the oxideinsulating layer 416. In this embodiment, the protective insulatinglayer 403 is formed by forming a silicon nitride film by an RFsputtering method. Since an RF sputtering method has high productivity,it is preferably used as a deposition method of the protectiveinsulating layer 403. For example, an inorganic insulating film whichdoes not contain moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW and blocks entry ofsuch impurities from the outside is used to form the protectiveinsulating layer 403. For example, the protective insulating layer 403can be formed using a silicon nitride film, an aluminum nitride film,silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum oxynitride film, or the like.Needless to say, the protective insulating layer 403 is alight-transmitting insulating film.

The protective insulating layer 403 is preferably in contact with thefirst gate insulating layer 402 a or an insulating film serving as abase provided below the protective insulating layer 403, and blocksentry of impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW from thevicinity of a side surface of the substrate. It is particularlyeffective to use a silicon nitride film as the first gate insulatinglayer 402 a or the insulating film serving as the base, which is incontact with the protective insulating layer 403. In other words, asilicon nitride film provided so as to surround a bottom surface, a topsurface, and a side surface of each of the oxide semiconductor layers412 and 422 can increase the reliability of the display device.

Next, the planarization insulating layer 404 is formed over theprotective insulating layer 403. The planarization insulating layer 404can be formed from an organic material having heat resistance, such aspolyimide, acrylic, benzocyclobutene, polyamide, or epoxy. Other thansuch organic materials, it is also possible to use a low-dielectricconstant material (a low-k material), a siloxane-based resin, PSG(phosphosilicate glass), BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass), or the likefor the planarization insulating layer 404. Note that the planarizationinsulating layer 404 may be formed by stacking a plurality of insulatingfilms formed from these materials.

Note that a siloxane-based resin corresponds to a resin including aSi—O—Si bond formed using a siloxane-based material as a startingmaterial. The siloxane-based resin may include an organic group (e.g.,an alkyl group or an aryl group) or a fluoro group as a substituent.Moreover, the organic group may include a fluoro group.

There is no particular limitation on the method for forming theplanarization insulating layer 404. The planarization insulating layer404 can be formed, depending on the material, by a method such as asputtering method, an SOG method, a spin coating method, a dippingmethod, a spray coating method, or a droplet discharge method (e.g., anink-jet method, screen printing, or offset printing), or a tool such asa doctor knife, a roll coater, a curtain coater, or a knife coater.

Then, a sixth photolithography process is performed so that a resistmask is formed and a contact hole 441 that reaches the drain electrodelayer 409 b is formed by etching of the planarization insulating layer404, the protective insulating layer 403, and the oxide insulating layer416 (see FIG. 3B). Moreover, contact holes that reach the gate electrodelayers 411 and 421 are also formed with that etching. Alternatively, theresist mask for forming the contact hole 441 that reaches the drainelectrode layer 409 b may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomask isnot used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jet method, whichresults in reducing manufacturing costs.

Next, the resist mask is removed and then a light-transmittingconductive film is formed. The light-transmitting conductive film can beformed from an indium oxide (In₂O₃) film, a film of an alloy of indiumoxide and tin oxide (In₂O₃—SnO₂, abbreviated to ITO), or the like by asputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method, or the like.Alternatively, as the light-transmitting conductive film, anAl—Zn—O-based non-single-crystal film containing nitrogen (i.e., anAl—Zn—O—N-based non-single-crystal film), a Zn—O-basednon-single-crystal film containing nitrogen, or an Sn—Zn—O-basednon-single-crystal film containing nitrogen may be used. Note that thepercentage (at. %) of zinc in the Al—Zn—O—N-based non-single-crystalfilm is less than or equal to 47 at. % and is higher than that ofaluminum in the non-single-crystal film; the percentage (at. %) ofaluminum in the Al—Zn—O—N-based non-single-crystal film is higher thanthat of nitrogen in the Al—Zn—O—N-based non-single-crystal film. A filmof such a material is etched with a hydrochloric acid-based solution.However, since a residue is easily generated particularly in etching theITO film, an alloy of indium oxide and zinc oxide (In₂O₃—ZnO) may beused to improve etching processability.

Note that the unit of the percentage of components in thelight-transmitting conductive film is atomic percent (at. %), and thepercentage of components in the light-transmitting conductive film isevaluated by analysis using an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer(EPMA).

Next, a seventh photolithography process is performed so that a resistmask is formed and unnecessary portions of the light-transmittingconductive film are removed by etching, and the resist mask is removed,so that the pixel electrode layer 427 and the conductive layer 417 areformed (see FIG. 3C).

Through the above-described process, the thin film transistor 410 andthe thin film transistor 420 can be separately formed in the drivercircuit and the pixel portion, respectively, over the same substratewith the use of seven masks. The thin film transistor 410 in the drivercircuit is a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 412 which has the high-resistance drain region 414a, the high-resistance drain region 414 b, and the channel formationregion 413. Meanwhile, the thin film transistor 420 in the pixel portionis a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 422 which has the high-resistance drain region 424a, the high-resistance drain region 424 b, and the channel formationregion 423. In the thin film transistors 410 and 420, even when a highelectric field is applied, the high-resistance drain regions 414 a, 414b, 424 a, and 424 b each serve as a buffer, whereby the high electricfield is not applied locally and the withstand voltage of the transistorcan be improved.

A storage capacitor that is constituted by a capacitor wiring and acapacitor electrode (also referred to as a capacitor electrode layer)with the first and second gate insulating layers 402 a and 402 b asdielectrics can also be formed over the substrate over which the thinfilm transistors 410 and 420 are formed. The thin film transistors 420and storage capacitors are arranged in matrix to correspond toindividual pixels so that the pixel portion is formed, and the drivercircuit including the thin film transistor 410 is arranged around thepixel portion, whereby one of the substrates for manufacturing an activematrix display device can be obtained. In this specification, such asubstrate is referred to as an active matrix substrate for convenience.

The pixel electrode layer 427 is electrically connected to the capacitorelectrode layer through the contact hole formed in the planarizationinsulating layer 404, the protective insulating layer 403, and the oxideinsulating layer 416. Note that the capacitor electrode layer can beformed from the same material and in the same step as the sourceelectrode layer 409 a and the drain electrode layer 409 b.

The conductive layer 417 is provided so as to overlap with the channelformation region 413 in the oxide semiconductor layer 412, whereby theamount of change in threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 410before and after a bias-temperature stress test (referred to as a BTtest) for examining the reliability of a thin film transistor can bereduced. A potential of the conductive layer 417 may be the same as ordifferent from that of the gate electrode layer 411. The conductivelayer 417 can also function as a gate electrode layer. In addition, thepotential of the conductive layer 417 may be placed in a GND state or astate of 0V, or the conductive layer 417 may be placed in a floatingstate.

Note that the resist mask for forming the pixel electrode layer 427 andthe conductive layer 417 may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomaskis not used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jet method, whichresults in reducing manufacturing costs.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, an example where first heat treatment is differentfrom that in Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4Ato 4C. Since FIGS. 4A to 4C are the same as FIGS. 2A to 2E and FIGS. 3Ato 3C except for part of the steps, the same reference numerals are usedfor the same portions and detailed description of the same portions isnot repeated.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing two thin film transistors.

First, in accordance with Embodiment 1, gate electrode layers 411 and421 are formed over a substrate 400 having an insulating surface.

Next, over the gate electrode layers 411 and 421, a first gateinsulating layer 402 a and a second gate insulating layer 402 b arestacked as a gate insulating layer.

Then, an oxide semiconductor film 430 with a thickness of 2 nm to 200 nminclusive is formed over the second gate insulating layer 402 b (seeFIG. 4A). Note that the steps up to this point are the same as those inEmbodiment 1, and FIG. 4A corresponds to FIG. 2A.

Next, the oxide semiconductor film is dehydrated or dehydrogenated in aninert gas atmosphere or under reduced pressure. The temperature of thefirst heat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation is set togreater than or equal to 350° C. and less than the strain point of thesubstrate, preferably greater than or equal to 400° C. In thisembodiment, the substrate 400 over which the oxide semiconductor film430 is formed is put in an electric furnace which is a kind of heattreatment apparatus, and the heat treatment is performed on the oxidesemiconductor film 430 in a nitrogen atmosphere. After that, cooling isperformed without exposure to the air water or hydrogen are preventedfrom being mixed into the oxide semiconductor film 430 again, wherebythe oxide semiconductor film 430 is made to be in an oxygen-deficientstate, and the resistance is reduced, that is, the oxide semiconductorfilm 430 is made to be n-type (e.g., n⁻ type). Then, an oxygen gas, ahigh-purity N₂O gas, or ultra-dry air (having a dew point of less thanor equal to −40° C., preferably less than or equal to −60° C.) isintroduced to the same furnace and cooling is performed. It ispreferable that the oxygen gas or the N₂O gas do not contain water,hydrogen, and the like. In addition, the purity of the oxygen gas or theN₂O gas which is introduced into the heat treatment apparatus ispreferably greater than or equal to 6 N (99.9999%), more preferablygreater than or equal to 7 N (99.99999%) (i.e., the impurityconcentration in the oxygen gas or the N₂O gas is preferably less thanor equal to 1 ppm, more preferably less than or equal to 0.1 ppm).

In addition, after the first heat treatment for dehydration ordehydrogenation, heat treatment may be performed at 200° C. to 400° C.inclusive, preferably 200° C. to 300° C. inclusive in an oxygen gasatmosphere, an N₂O gas atmosphere, or an ultra-dry air (having a dewpoint of less than or equal to −40° C., preferably less than or equal to−60° C.) atmosphere.

Through the above process, the entire oxide semiconductor film 430 ismade to be in an oxygen-excess state so as to have higher resistance,that is, to be i-type. An oxide semiconductor film 444 is formed in thismanner (see FIG. 4B). As a result, the reliability of thin filmtransistors formed later can be increased.

In this embodiment, an example in which dehydration or dehydrogenationare performed after the oxide semiconductor film 430 is formed is shown,but this embodiment is not limited thereto. The first heat treatment maybe performed on island-like oxide semiconductor layers which have beenprocessed from the oxide semiconductor film as in Embodiment 1.

The oxide semiconductor film 430 is dehydrated or dehydrogenated in aninert gas atmosphere or under reduced pressure and then cooled in aninert gas atmosphere. After that, a resist mask is formed through aphotolithography process. Selective etching is performed on the oxidesemiconductor film 444 using the resist mask, whereby island-likesemiconductor layers are formed. Then, heat treatment may be performedat 200° C. to 400° C. inclusive, preferably 200° C. to 300° C. inclusivein an oxygen gas atmosphere, an N₂O gas atmosphere, or an ultra-dry air(having a dew point of less than or equal to −40° C., preferably lessthan or equal to −60° C.) atmosphere.

In addition, before the oxide semiconductor film 430 is formed, heattreatment (at greater than or equal to 400° C. and less than the strainpoint of the substrate) may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere(nitrogen or a rare gas such as helium, neon, or argon), an oxygenatmosphere, an ultra-dry air (having a dew point of less than or equalto −40° C., preferably less than or equal to −60° C.) atmosphere, orunder reduced pressure, thereby removing impurities such as hydrogen andwater contained in the gate insulating layers.

Next, a resist mask is formed over the oxide semiconductor film 444through a second photolithography process, and selective etching isperformed on the oxide semiconductor film 444 using the resist mask,whereby island-like oxide semiconductor layers 443 and 445 are formed.

Then, the resist mask is removed. Further, as in FIGS. 2C, 2D, and 2E,and FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C of Embodiment 1, in a peripheral driver circuitportion, the oxide semiconductor layer is only partly etched away, andthus, the oxide semiconductor layer 443 has a groove (a depressionportion). Then, low-resistance drain regions 408 a and 408 b which arein contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 443, a source electrodelayer 415 a and a drain electrode layer 415 b which are metal conductivelayers and in contact with the low-resistance drain regions 408 a and408 b respectively, and an oxide insulating layer 416 in contact withpart of the oxide semiconductor layer 443 are formed. A thin filmtransistor 449 for the driver circuit is formed in this manner.Meanwhile, in a pixel portion, the oxide semiconductor layer is onlypartly etched away, and thus, the oxide semiconductor layer 445 has agroove (a depression portion). Then, a source electrode layer 409 a anda drain electrode layer 409 b which are light-transmitting conductivelayers and in contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 445, and theoxide insulating layer 416 in contact with part of the oxidesemiconductor layer 445 are formed. A thin film transistor 451 for thepixel is formed in this manner.

Next, second heat treatment (preferably at 200° C. to 400° C. inclusive,e.g., 250° C. to 350° C. inclusive) is performed in an inert gasatmosphere or an oxygen gas atmosphere. For example, the second heattreatment is performed in a nitrogen atmosphere at 250° C. for one hour.

Next, a protective insulating layer 403 and a planarization insulatinglayer 404 are stacked so as to cover the thin film transistors 449 and451 and be in contact with the oxide insulating layer 416. Further, acontact hole is formed in the protective insulating layer 403 and theplanarization insulating layer 404 to reach the drain electrode layer409 b. Further, a light-transmitting conductive film is formed andselectively etched, whereby a conductive layer 417 and a pixel electrodelayer 427 electrically connected to the thin film transistor 451 areformed (see FIG. 4C).

Through the above-described process, the thin film transistor 449 andthe thin film transistor 451 in each of which the entire oxidesemiconductor layer is i-type can be separately formed in the drivercircuit and the pixel portion, respectively, over the same substratewith the use of seven masks. The thin film transistor 449 for the drivercircuit is a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 443 which is entirely i-type, while the thin filmtransistor 451 for the pixel is a channel-etched thin film transistorincluding the oxide semiconductor layer 445 which is entirely i-type.

In addition, a storage capacitor that is constituted by a capacitorwiring layer and a capacitor electrode with the first gate insulatinglayer 452 a and the second gate insulating layer 452 b as dielectricscan be formed over the substrate over which the thin film transistors449 and 451 are formed. The thin film transistors 451 and storagecapacitors are arranged in matrix to correspond to individual pixels sothat a pixel portion is formed, and a driver circuit including the thinfilm transistor 449 is arranged around the pixel portion, whereby one ofthe substrates for manufacturing an active matrix display device can beobtained.

The conductive layer 417 is provided so as to overlap with the channelformation region in the oxide semiconductor layer 443, whereby theamount of change in threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 449before and after the BT test can be reduced. A potential of theconductive layer 417 may be the same as or different from that of thegate electrode layer 411. The conductive layer 417 can also function asa gate electrode layer. In addition, the potential of the conductivelayer 417 may be placed in a GND state or a state of 0V, or theconductive layer 417 may be placed in a floating state.

Embodiment 3

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device which is differentfrom that in Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5Ato 5D. Portions which are the same as or have functions similar to thosein Embodiment 1 are formed as in Embodiment 1, and steps which are thesame as or similar to those in Embodiment 1 can be carried out as inEmbodiment 1; therefore, the description thereof will not be repeated.

FIGS. 5A to 5D are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing two thin film transistors.

First, as in FIG. 2A of Embodiment 1, over a substrate 400 having aninsulating surface, a gate electrode layer 411 and a gate electrodelayer 421 are formed. Then, over the gate electrode layers 411 and 421,a first gate insulating layer 402 a and a second gate insulating layer402 b are formed as a gate insulating layer, and an oxide semiconductorfilm 430 is formed over the second gate insulating layer 402 b (see FIG.5A).

Then, a resist mask is formed over the oxide semiconductor film througha second photolithography process. Selective etching is performed on theoxide semiconductor film using the resist mask, whereby island-likesemiconductor layers are formed.

Then, the resist mask is removed and first heat treatment is performedas in FIG. 2B of Embodiment 1, whereby the oxide semiconductor layersare dehydrated or dehydrogenated. The temperature of the first heattreatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation is greater than or equal to350° C. and less than the strain point of the substrate, preferablygreater than or equal to 400° C. Here, the substrate over which theoxide semiconductor layers are formed is put in an electric furnacewhich is a kind of heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment isperformed on the oxide semiconductor layers in a nitrogen atmosphere,cooling is performed without exposure to the air, and water or hydrogenare prevented from being mixed into the oxide semiconductor layersagain; thus, oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 are obtained (seeFIG. 5B).

Then, an oxide conductive film is formed over the oxide semiconductorlayers 431 and 432 and the second gate insulating layer 402 b, and ametal conductive film is formed over the oxide conductive film. Afterthat, resist masks 445 a and 445 b are formed through a thirdphotolithography process, and selective etching is performed using theresist masks 445 a and 445 b, whereby a low-resistance drain region 408a, a low-resistance drain region 408 b, a source electrode layer 409 a,a drain electrode layer 409 b, a source electrode layer 415 a, a drainelectrode layer 415 b, a conductive layer 425 a, and a conductive layer425 b are formed (see FIG. 5C). Materials similar to those in Embodiment1 can be used for the oxide conductive film and the metal conductivefilm. Note that as for the oxide semiconductor layers, only part thereofare etched away by etching, whereby the oxide semiconductor layers 431and 432 each have a groove (a depression portion).

Note that in this etching process, etching conditions may be set asappropriate such that the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 inlower layers can remain. For example, the etching time may becontrolled.

In addition, a material for forming the oxide semiconductor layers 431and 432 and a material for forming the low-resistance drain regions 408a and 408 b, the source electrode layer 409 a, and the drain electrodelayer 409 b each preferably has a high etching selectivity ratio withrespect to other materials. For example, a metal oxide materialcontaining Sn (e.g., SnZnO_(x) (x>0), SnGaZnO_(x), or the like) may beused for the material for the oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432,and ITO or the like may be used for the material for the low-resistancedrain regions 408 a and 408 b, the source electrode layer 409 a, and thedrain electrode layer 409 b.

Then, the resist masks 445 a and 445 b are removed, and a resist mask438 is formed through a fourth photolithography process. Then, selectiveetching is performed using the resist mask 438, whereby the conductivelayers 425 a and 425 b are removed (see FIG. 5D).

Since the conductive layers which overlap with the source electrodelayer 409 a and the drain electrode layer 409 b are selectively removedthrough the fourth photolithography process, materials for the oxidesemiconductor layer 432, the source electrode layer 409 a, and the drainelectrode layer 409 b and etching conditions are adjusted as appropriateso that they are not removed in etching the conductive layers.

The oxide semiconductor layers 431 and 432 preferably have a thicknessof less than or equal to 50 nm so as to be kept in an amorphous state.Particularly in the channel-etched thin film transistor, the oxidesemiconductor layer is further etched, and the thickness of a thinregion, that is, a channel formation region is less than or equal to 30nm, and the thickness of a thin region in the thin film transistor whichis completed is set to 5 nm to 20 nm inclusive.

In addition, the channel width of the thin film transistor which iscompleted is preferably 0.5 μm to 10 μm inclusive.

Next, as in FIG. 3A of Embodiment 1, an oxide insulating layer 416serving as a protective insulating film is formed in contact with thegrooves (the depression portions) of the oxide semiconductor layers 431and 432, and second heat treatment is performed. In this manner, achannel formation region 413 overlapping with the gate electrode layer411 becomes i-type, and a channel formation region 423 overlapping withthe gate electrode layer 421 also becomes i-type. Further, ahigh-resistance drain region 414 a overlapping with the source electrodelayer 415 a and a high-resistance drain region 414 b overlapping withthe drain electrode layer 415 b are formed in a self-aligned manner, anda high-resistance drain region 424 a overlapping with the sourceelectrode layer 409 a and a high-resistance drain region 424 boverlapping with the drain electrode layer 409 b are formed in aself-aligned manner.

Then, as in FIG. 3B of Embodiment 1, a protective insulating layer 403is formed over the oxide insulating layer 416, and a planarizationinsulating layer 404 is formed over the protective insulating layer 403.A resist mask is formed through a fifth photolithography process andetching is performed using the resist mask on the planarizationinsulating layer 404, the protective insulating layer 403, and the oxideinsulating layer 416, whereby a contact hole 441 is formed to reach thedrain electrode layer 409 b.

Next, after the resist mask is removed as in FIG. 3C of Embodiment 1, alight-transmitting conductive film is formed. Next, a sixthphotolithography process is performed, so that a resist mask is formed,and unnecessary portions of the light-transmitting conductive film areremoved by etching using the resist mask to form the pixel electrodelayer 427 and the conductive layer 417.

Through the above-described steps, a thin film transistor 410 and a thinfilm transistor 420 can be separately formed in the driver circuit andthe pixel portion, respectively, over one substrate with the use of sixmasks. The number of masks can be smaller than in the manufacturingprocess of Embodiment 1. The thin film transistor 410 for the drivercircuit is a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 412 which has the high-resistance drain region 414a, the high-resistance drain region 414 b, and the channel formationregion 413. Meanwhile, the thin film transistor 420 for the pixel is achannel-etched thin film transistor including the oxide semiconductorlayer 422 which has the high-resistance drain region 424 a, thehigh-resistance drain region 424 b, and the channel formation region423. In the thin film transistors 410 and 420, even when a high electricfield is applied, the high-resistance drain regions 414 a, 414 b, 424 a,and 424 b serves as buffers and the high electric field is not appliedlocally, so that the withstand voltage of the transistor can beimproved.

Embodiment 4

A semiconductor device different from that of Embodiment 1 and a methodfor manufacturing the semiconductor device will be described withreference to FIGS. 6A1 to 6C, FIGS. 38A to 38E, and FIGS. 39A to 39C.FIGS. 6B and 6C illustrate an example of a cross-sectional structure oftwo thin film transistors whose structures are different from each otherand which are formed over one substrate. A thin film transistor 460 anda thin film transistor 470 illustrated in FIGS. 6A1 to 6C are each akind of a channel-etched bottom gate transistor.

FIG. 6A1 is a plan view of the channel-etched thin film transistor 460arranged in a driver circuit, FIG. 6A2 is a plan view of thechannel-etched thin film transistor 470 arranged in a pixel, FIG. 6B isa cross-sectional view illustrating a cross-sectional structure alongline G1-G2 in FIG. 6A1 and a cross-sectional structure along line H1-H2in FIG. 6A2, and FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view illustrating across-sectional structure along line G3-G4 in FIG. 6A1 and across-sectional structure along line H3-H4 in FIG. 6A2.

The thin film transistor 460 arranged in the driver circuit is achannel-etched thin film transistor and includes a gate electrode layer461; a first gate insulating layer 452 a; a second gate insulating layer452 b; an oxide semiconductor layer 462 including at least a channelformation region 463, a high-resistance drain region 464 a, and ahigh-resistance drain region 464 b; a low-resistance drain region 446 a;a low-resistance drain region 446 b; a source electrode layer 465 a; anda drain electrode layer 465 b over a substrate 450 having an insulatingsurface. Moreover, an oxide insulating layer 466 which covers the thinfilm transistor 460 and is in contact with the channel formation region463 is provided.

The high-resistance drain region 464 a is formed in contact with abottom surface of the low-resistance drain region 446 a in aself-aligned manner. The high-resistance drain region 464 b is formed incontact with a bottom surface of the low-resistance drain region 446 bin a self-aligned manner. The channel formation region 463 is in contactwith the oxide insulating layer 466, has a small thickness, and is aregion with higher resistance than the high-resistance drain region 464a and the high-resistance drain region 464 b (an i-type region).

In addition, because the low-resistance drain regions 446 a and 446 bare provided, the thin film transistor 460 can be operated more stablyalso in terms of heat than a thin film transistor with a Schottkyjunction. By intentionally providing the low-resistance drain regionwith a higher carrier concentration than that of the oxide semiconductorlayer as described above, ohmic contact is obtained.

In order to reduce the resistance of the wiring in the thin filmtransistor 460, a metal material is preferably used for the sourceelectrode layer 465 a and the drain electrode layer 465 b.

When a pixel portion and a driver circuit are formed over one substratein a semiconductor device of this embodiment, in the driver circuit,positive voltage or negative voltage is applied between a sourceelectrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor included in alogic gate such as an inverter circuit, a NAND circuit, a NOR circuit,or a latch circuit and a thin film transistor included in an analogcircuit such as a sense amplifier, a constant voltage generationcircuit, or a VCO. Consequently, the width of the high-resistance drainregion 464 b that needs high withstand voltage may be designed to belarger than the width of the high-resistance drain region 464 a.Moreover, the width of a region of each of the high-resistance drainregion 464 a and the high-resistance drain region 464 b which overlapswith the gate electrode layer 461 may be increased.

The thin film transistor 460 arranged in the driver circuit is describedusing a single-gate thin film transistor; a multi-gate thin filmtransistor including a plurality of channel formation regions can beformed when needed.

Furthermore, a conductive layer 467 is provided above the channelformation region 463 so as to overlap with the channel formation region463. The conductive layer 467 is electrically connected to the gateelectrode layer 461 so that the conductive layer 467 and the gateelectrode layer 461 have the same potential, whereby a gate voltage canbe applied from above and below the oxide semiconductor layer 462 placedbetween the gate electrode layer 461 and the conductive layer 467.Alternatively, when the gate electrode layer 461 and the conductivelayer 467 are made to have different potentials, for example, one ofthem has a fixed potential, a GND potential, or 0 V, electricalcharacteristics of the TFT, such as the threshold voltage, can becontrolled. In other words, one of the gate electrode layer 461 and theconductive layer 467 functions as a first gate electrode layer, and theother of the gate electrode layer 461 and the conductive layer 467functions as a second gate electrode layer, whereby the thin filmtransistor 460 can be used as a thin film transistor having fourterminals.

Further, a protective insulating layer 453 and a planarizationinsulating layer 454 are stacked between the conductive layer 467 andthe oxide insulating layer 466.

The protective insulating layer 453 is preferably in contact with thefirst gate insulating layer 452 a or an insulating film serving as abase provided below the protective insulating layer 453, and blocksentry of impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW from a sidesurface of the substrate 450. It is particularly effective to use asilicon nitride film as the first gate insulating layer 452 a or theinsulating film serving as the base, which is in contact with theprotective insulating layer 453.

The thin film transistor 470 arranged in the pixel is a channel-etchedthin film transistor and includes a gate electrode layer 471; the firstgate insulating layer 452 a, the second gate insulating layer 452 b; anoxide semiconductor layer 472 including at least a channel formationregion 473, a high-resistance drain region 474 a, and a high-resistancedrain region 474 b; a source electrode layer 447 a, and a drainelectrode layer 447 b over the substrate 450 having an insulatingsurface. In addition, the oxide insulating layer 466 which covers thethin film transistor 470 and is in contact with the upper surface andthe side surfaces of the oxide semiconductor layer 472 is provided.

Note that AC drive is performed in a semiconductor device of thisembodiment in order to prevent deterioration in liquid crystal. Throughthe AC drive, the polarity of a signal potential applied to a pixelelectrode layer is inverted to be positive or negative everypredetermined period. In a TFT which is connected to the pixel electrodelayer, a pair of electrodes function as a source electrode layer and adrain electrode layer. In this specification, for convenience, one of apair of electrodes of a thin film transistor in a pixel is referred toas a source electrode layer and the other of the electrodes is referredto as a drain electrode layer; however, practically, one of theelectrodes alternately functions as the source electrode layer and thedrain electrode layer in the case of AC drive. In addition, in order toreduce the amount of leakage current, the width of the gate electrodelayer in the thin film transistor 470 arranged in the pixel may be madesmaller than the width of the gate electrode layer in the thin filmtransistor 460 arranged in the driver circuit. Alternatively, in orderto reduce the amount of leakage current, the gate electrode layer 471 inthe thin film transistor 470 arranged in the pixel may be designed so asnot to overlap with the source electrode layer 447 a or the drainelectrode layer 447 b.

The high-resistance drain region 474 a is formed in contact with abottom surface of the source electrode layer 447 a in a self-alignedmanner. The high-resistance drain region 474 b is formed in contact witha bottom surface of the drain electrode layer 447 b in a self-alignedmanner. The channel formation region 473 is in contact with the oxideinsulating layer 466, has a small thickness, and is a region havinghigher resistance than the high-resistance drain regions 474 a and 474 b(an i-type region).

Heat treatment for reducing impurities such as moisture (heat treatmentfor dehydration or dehydrogenation) is performed after an oxidesemiconductor film used for forming the oxide semiconductor layers 462and 472 is deposited. Reduction of the carrier concentration of theoxide semiconductor layers 462 and 472, by, for example, forming anoxide insulating film in contact with the formed oxide semiconductorlayers after the heat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation andslow cooling leads to improvement of the electrical characteristics andreliability of the thin film transistors 460 and 470.

The oxide semiconductor layer 462 is formed below and to overlap withpart of the source electrode layer 465 a and the drain electrode layer465 b. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 462 overlaps with thegate electrode layer 461 with the first gate insulating layer 452 a andthe second gate insulating layer 452 b interposed therebetween. Further,the oxide semiconductor layer 472 is formed below and to overlap withpart of the source electrode layer 447 a and the drain electrode layer447 b. In addition, the oxide semiconductor layer 472 overlaps with thegate electrode layer 471 with the first gate insulating layer 452 a andthe second gate insulating layer 452 b interposed therebetween.

A light-transmitting conductive film is used for the source electrodelayer 447 a and the drain electrode layer 447 b of the thin filmtransistor 470 so as to realize a display device with a high apertureratio.

Moreover, a light-transmitting conductive film is also used for the gateelectrode layer 471 in the thin film transistor 470.

In the pixel in which the thin film transistor 470 is arranged, aconductive film that transmits visible light is used for a pixelelectrode layer 477 or a different electrode layer (e.g., a capacitorelectrode layer) or a different wiring layer (e.g., a capacitor wiringlayer), which realizes a display device with a high aperture ratio.Needless to say, it is preferable to use a film that transmits visiblelight for the first gate insulating layer 452 a, the second gateinsulating layer 452 b, and the oxide insulating layer 466.

A process for manufacturing the thin film transistors 460 and 470 overthe same substrate will be described below with reference to FIGS. 38Ato 38E and FIGS. 39A to 39C.

First, a light-transmitting conductive film is formed over the substrate450 having an insulating surface. Then, a resist mask is formed over theconductive film through a first photolithography process and selectiveetching is performed using the resist mask, whereby the gate electrodelayers 461 and 471 are formed. Moreover, a capacitor wiring is formed inthe pixel portion from the same material as that for the gate electrodelayers 461 and 471 through the first photolithography process.Furthermore, when a capacitor is necessary in the driver circuit inaddition to the pixel portion, the capacitor wiring is also formed inthe driver circuit. Note that the resist mask may be formed by anink-jet method. A photomask is not used when the resist mask is formedby an ink-jet method, which results in reducing manufacturing costs.

Although there is no particular limitation on a substrate which can beused for the substrate 450 having an insulating surface, the substrateneeds to have heat resistance high enough to withstand at least heattreatment to be performed later. As the substrate 450 having aninsulating surface, a glass substrate of barium borosilicate glass,aluminoborosilicate glass, or the like can be used.

When the temperature of the heat treatment performed later is high, asubstrate having a strain point of greater than or equal to 730° C. ispreferably used as a glass substrate applicable to the substrate 450. Asthe glass substrate, a glass material such as aluminosilicate glass,aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium borosilicate glass is used, forexample. Note that more practical glass with heat resistance can beobtained when it contains a larger amount of barium oxide (BaO) thanboric acid. Therefore, a glass substrate containing a larger amount ofBaO than B₂O₃ is preferably used.

Note that a substrate formed of an insulator, such as a ceramicsubstrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate, may be used asthe substrate 450 instead of the glass substrate. Alternatively,crystallized glass or the like may be used as the substrate 450.

An insulating film serving as a base film may be provided between thesubstrate 450 and the gate electrode layers 461 and 471. The base filmhas a function of preventing diffusion of an impurity element from thesubstrate 450, and can be formed with a single film or a stack filmusing one or more of a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxide film, asilicon nitride oxide film, and a silicon oxynitride film.

As a material for the gate electrode layers 461 and 471, a conductivematerial that transmits visible light, for example, any of the followingmetal oxides can be used: an In—Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—O-basedmetal oxide, and a Zn—O-based metal oxide. The thickness of the gateelectrode layers 461 and 471 is set within the range of 50 nm to 300 nminclusive. The metal oxide used for the gate electrode layers 461 and471 is deposited by a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method(e.g., an electron beam evaporation method), an arc discharge ionplating method, or a spray method. When a sputtering method is employed,it is preferable that deposition be performed using a target containingSiO₂ of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the light-transmitting conductive filmwhich is formed so as to prevent crystallization at the time of the heattreatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation in a later step.

Then, the resist mask is removed, and a gate insulating layer is formedover the gate electrode layers 461 and 471.

The gate insulating layer can be formed with a single layer or a stackusing one or more of a silicon oxide layer, a silicon nitride layer, asilicon oxynitride layer, and a silicon nitride oxide layer by a plasmaCVD method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, when asilicon oxynitride layer is formed, it may be formed using SiH₄, oxygen,and nitrogen as deposition gases by a plasma CVD method.

In this embodiment, the gate insulating layer is a stack of the firstgate insulating layer 452 a with a thickness of 50 nm to 200 nminclusive and the second gate insulating layer 452 b with a thickness of50 nm to 300 nm inclusive. As the first gate insulating layer 452 a, a100-nm-thick silicon nitride film or silicon nitride oxide film is used.As the second gate insulating layer 452 b, a 100-nm-thick silicon oxidefilm is used.

An oxide semiconductor film 480 with a thickness of 2 nm to 200 nminclusive is formed over the second gate insulating layer 452 b (seeFIG. 38A). The oxide semiconductor film 480 preferably has a thicknessof less than or equal to 50 nm such that oxide semiconductor layersformed later are in an amorphous state even when heat treatment fordehydration or dehydrogenation are performed after the oxidesemiconductor film 480 is formed. The small thickness of the oxidesemiconductor film 480 can prevent the oxide semiconductor layers formedlater from being crystallized when heat treatment is performed after theformation of the oxide semiconductor film 480.

Note that before the oxide semiconductor film 480 is formed by asputtering method, dust attached to a surface of the second gateinsulating layer 452 b is preferably removed by reverse sputtering inwhich plasma is generated by introduction of an argon gas.

As the oxide semiconductor film 480, an In—Ga—Zn—O-basednon-single-crystal film, an In—Sn—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film,an In—Al—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Al—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, anSn—Al—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In—Zn—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Sn—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, anAl—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, an In—O-based oxidesemiconductor film, an Sn—O-based oxide semiconductor film, or aZn—O-based oxide semiconductor film is used. In this embodiment, theoxide semiconductor film 480 is formed by a sputtering method with theuse of an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor target. Alternatively,the oxide semiconductor film 480 can be formed by a sputtering method ina rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere, or anatmosphere containing a rare gas (typically argon) and oxygen. When asputtering method is employed, it is preferable that deposition of theoxide semiconductor film 480 be performed using a target containing SiO₂of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the oxide semiconductor film 480 so asto prevent crystallization of the oxide semiconductor layer formed laterat the time of the heat treatment for dehydration or dehydrogenation ina later step.

Then, the oxide semiconductor film 480 is subjected to dehydration ordehydrogenation. The temperature of first heat treatment for dehydrationor dehydrogenation is greater than or equal to 350° C. and less than thestrain point of the substrate, preferably greater than or equal to 400°C. Here, the substrate 450 over which the oxide semiconductor film 480is formed is put in an electric furnace which is a kind of heattreatment apparatus and heat treatment is performed on the oxidesemiconductor film 480 in a nitrogen atmosphere, and then, cooling isperformed without exposure to the air, and water or hydrogen areprevented from being mixed into the oxide semiconductor film 480 again;thus, an oxide semiconductor film 481 is obtained (see FIG. 38B). Inthis embodiment, the same furnace is used from the heat temperature T atwhich the oxide semiconductor film 480 is subjected to dehydration ordehydrogenation to a temperature low enough to prevent water fromentering again; specifically, slow cooling is performed in a nitrogenatmosphere until the temperature drops by 100° C. or more from the heattemperature T. Moreover, without limitation to a nitrogen atmosphere,dehydration or dehydrogenation may be performed in a rare gas atmosphere(e.g., helium, neon, or argon) or under reduced pressure.

Note that in the first heat treatment, it is preferable that water,hydrogen, and the like be not contained in nitrogen or a rare gas suchas helium, neon, or argon. Alternatively, the purity of nitrogen or arare gas such as helium, neon, or argon which is introduced into theheat treatment apparatus is preferably greater than or equal to 6 N(99.9999%), more preferably greater than or equal to 7 N (99.99999%)(i.e., the impurity concentration is preferably less than or equal to 1ppm, more preferably less than or equal to 0.1 ppm).

In some cases, the oxide semiconductor layer is crystallized to be amicrocrystalline layer or a polycrystalline layer depending on theconditions of the first heat treatment or the material of the oxidesemiconductor film 480.

In addition, the first heat treatment can also be performed onisland-like oxide semiconductor layers which have been processed fromthe oxide semiconductor film.

In addition, before the oxide semiconductor film 480 is formed, heattreatment (at greater than or equal to 400° C. and less than the strainpoint of the substrate) may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere(nitrogen or a rare gas such as helium, neon, or argon), an oxygenatmosphere, or under reduced pressure, thereby removing impurities suchas hydrogen and water contained in the gate insulating layers.

Then, an oxide conductive film and a metal conductive film aresequentially formed over the oxide semiconductor film 481.

As a material of the oxide conductive film, a conductive material thattransmits visible light, for example, an In—Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide,an In—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Ga—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Al—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anIn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—Zn—O-based metal oxide, anAl—Zn—O-based metal oxide, an In—O-based metal oxide, an Sn—O-basedmetal oxide, or a Zn—O-based metal oxide can be employed. The thicknessof the oxide conductive film is selected as appropriate in the range of50 nm to 300 nm inclusive. As a deposition method of the oxideconductive film, a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method (e.g.,an electron beam evaporation method), an arc discharge ion platingmethod, or a spray method is used. When a sputtering method is employed,it is preferable that deposition be performed using a target containingSiO₂ of 2 wt % to 10 wt % inclusive and SiOx (x>0) which inhibitscrystallization be contained in the light-transmitting conductive filmso as to prevent crystallization of oxide conductive layers 442 and 447which are formed later at the time of the heat treatment for dehydrationor dehydrogenation in a later step.

Examples of the material for the metal conductive film are an elementselected from Al, Cr, Cu, Ta, Ti, Mo, and W; an alloy containing any ofthese elements as a component; and an alloy containing these elements incombination.

As the metal conductive film, a three-layer stack film including atitanium film, an aluminum film provided over the titanium film, and atitanium film provided over the aluminum film, or a three-layer stackfilm including a molybdenum film, an aluminum film provided over themolybdenum film, and a molybdenum film provided over the aluminum filmis preferably used. Of course, a single layer film, a two-layer stackfilm, or a stack film of four or more layers may also be used as themetal conductive film.

After the oxide conductive film and the metal conductive film areformed, resist masks 482 a and 482 b are formed through a secondphotolithography process. Note that the resist masks 482 a and 482 b maybe formed by an ink-jet method. A photomask is not used when the resistmasks 482 a and 482 b are formed by an ink-jet method, which results inreducing manufacturing costs.

The resist mask 482 a and the resist mask 482 b in this embodiment areeach a resist mask having a depression portion or a projection portion.In other words, such a resist mask can also be referred to as a resistmask including a plurality of regions (here, two regions) havingdifferent thicknesses. In the resist mask 482 a or 482 b, a thick regionis called a projection portion and a thin region is called a depressionportion.

In each of the resist masks 482 a and 482 b, the projection portion isformed in a region where source and drain electrode layers are formedlater, and the depression portion is formed in a region which is to be achannel formation region between the source electrode layer and thedrain electrode layer.

The resist masks 482 a and 482 b can be formed using a multi-tone mask.The multi-tone mask is a mask capable of light exposure with multi-levellight intensity, and typically, light exposure is performed with threelevels of light intensity to provide an exposed region, a half-exposedregion, and an unexposed region. By one light exposure and developmentstep with the use of a multi-tone mask, a resist mask with pluralthicknesses (typically, two kinds of thicknesses) can be formed.Therefore, by the usage of a multi-tone mask, the number of photomaskscan be reduced.

By light exposure using the multi-tone mask and development, the resistmasks 482 a and 482 b each of which has regions having differentthicknesses can be formed. Note that without limitation thereto, theresist masks 482 a and 482 b may be formed without a multi-tone mask.

Next, by using the resist masks 482 a and 482 b, the metal conductivefilm, the oxide conductive film, and the oxide semiconductor film 481are selectively and concurrently etched, whereby island-like oxidesemiconductor layers 483 and 485, oxide conductive layers 442 and 447,and conductive layers 484 and 486 are formed (see FIG. 38C). When astack conductive film including a titanium film, an aluminum film, and atitanium film is used as the conductive film, etching can be performedby a dry etching method with the use of a chlorine gas.

Next, resist masks 487 a and 487 b are formed by reducing (downsizing)the resist masks 482 a and 482 b. In order to reduce (downsize) theresist masks, ashing using oxygen plasma or the like may be performed.When the resist masks are reduced (downsized), part of the conductivelayers 484 and 486 are exposed.

Next, selective etching is performed using the resist masks 487 a and487 b, whereby a source electrode layer 465 a, a drain electrode layer465 b, a low-resistance drain region 446 a, a low-resistance drainregion 446 b, a source electrode layer 447 a, a drain electrode layer447 b, a conductive layer 490 a, and a conductive layer 490 b are formed(see FIG. 38D). Note that, as for the oxide semiconductor layers 483 and485, only part thereof are etched away at this time and oxidesemiconductor layers each having a groove (a depression portion) areobtained.

Note that as illustrated in FIG. 38D, by etching using the resist masks487 a and 487 b obtained by reducing (downsizing) the resist masks 482 aand 482 b, thin regions are formed at the edge portions of the oxidesemiconductor layers 483 and 485. That is, the end portions of the oxidesemiconductor layer 483 extend beyond the end portions of thelow-resistance drain regions 408 a and 408 b, and the end portions ofthe oxide semiconductor layer 485 extend beyond the end portions of thesource and drain electrode layers 447 a and 447 b. Note that the edgeportions of the oxide semiconductor layer 483 have the same thickness asthat at the groove (depression portion) of the oxide semiconductor layer483 which is to be a channel formation region. In addition, the edgeportions of the oxide semiconductor layer 485 have the same thickness asthat at the groove (depression portion) of the oxide semiconductor layer485 which is to be a channel formation region.

Note that in this etching process, etching conditions may be set asappropriate such that the oxide semiconductor layers 483 and 485 inlower layers can remain. For example, the etching time may becontrolled.

In addition, a material for forming the oxide semiconductor layers 483and 485 and a material for forming the oxide conductive layers 442 and447 each preferably has a high etching selectivity ratio with respect toother materials. For example, a metal oxide material containing Sn(e.g., SnZnO_(x) (x>0), SnGaZnO_(x), or the like) may be used for thematerial for the oxide semiconductor layers 483 and 485, and ITO or thelike may be used for the material for the oxide conductive layers 442and 447.

Then, the resist masks 487 a and 487 b are removed, and a resist mask491 is formed through a third photolithography process. Then, selectiveetching is performed, whereby the conductive layers 490 a and 490 b areremoved (see FIG. 38E).

Since the conductive layers which overlap with the source electrodelayer 447 a and the drain electrode layer 447 b are selectively removedthrough the third photolithography process, materials of the oxidesemiconductor layer 432, the source electrode layer 447 a, and the drainelectrode layer 447 b and etching conditions are adjusted as appropriateso that they are not removed in the etching of the conductive layers.

An oxide insulating layer 466 serving as a protective insulating film isformed in contact with the grooves (the depression portions) in theoxide semiconductor layers 483 and 485.

The oxide insulating layer 466 has a thickness of at least 1 nm and canbe formed by a method by which impurities such as water or hydrogen arenot mixed into the oxide insulating layer 466, such as a sputteringmethod, as appropriate. In this embodiment, a 300-nm-thick silicon oxidefilm is formed as the oxide insulating layer 466 by a sputtering method.The substrate temperature at the film formation may be in the range ofroom temperature to 300° C. inclusive, and is 100° C. in thisembodiment. The silicon oxide film can be deposited by a sputteringmethod in a rare gas (typically argon) atmosphere, an oxygen atmosphere,or an atmosphere containing a rare gas (typically argon) and oxygen.Moreover, a silicon oxide target or a silicon target can be used as atarget. For example, the silicon oxide film can be formed using asilicon target in an atmosphere containing oxygen and nitrogen by asputtering method. The oxide insulating layer 466 which is formed incontact with the oxide semiconductor layers in regions whose resistanceis reduced is formed using an inorganic insulating film that does notcontain impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW and blocksentry of such impurities from the outside, typically a silicon oxidefilm, a silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum oxide film, or analuminum oxynitride film.

Next, second heat treatment (preferably 200° C. to 400° C. inclusive,e.g., 250° C. to 350° C. inclusive) is performed (see FIG. 39A). Forexample, the second heat treatment is performed in a nitrogen atmosphereat 250° C. for one hour. With the second heat treatment, heat is appliedwhile the grooves in the oxide semiconductor layers 483 and 485 are incontact with the oxide insulating layer 466.

Through the above process, the oxide semiconductor layer is converted toa high-resistance drain region (an HRN region), and part of thehigh-resistance drain region is made to be in an oxygen-excess stateselectively. As a result, the channel formation region 463 overlappingwith the gate electrode layer 461 becomes i-type, and the channelformation region 473 overlapping with the gate electrode layer 471becomes i-type. Further, the high-resistance drain region 464 aoverlapping with the source electrode layer 465 a, and thehigh-resistance drain region 464 b overlapping with the drain electrodelayer 465 b are formed in a self-aligned manner, and the high-resistancedrain region 474 a overlapping with the source electrode layer 447 a andthe high-resistance drain region 474 b overlapping with the drainelectrode layer 447 b are formed in a self-aligned manner.

Note that the high-resistance drain region 464 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 464 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layeroverlapping with the drain electrode layer 465 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 465 a), so that the reliability of the driver circuitformed can be increased. Specifically, with the formation of thehigh-resistance drain region 464 b, the conductivity can be graduallyvaried from the drain electrode layer 465 b to the high-resistance drainregion 464 b and the channel formation region. Thus, when the transistoris operated while the drain electrode layer 465 b is connected to awiring that supplies a high power supply potential VDD, even when a highelectric field is applied between the gate electrode layer 461 and thedrain electrode layer 465 b, the high-resistance drain region 474 bserves as a buffer and the high electric field is not applied locally,so that the transistor can have increased withstand voltage.

When the high-resistance drain region 464 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 464 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layeroverlapping with the drain electrode layer 465 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 465 a), the amount of leakage current in the channelformation region 463 in a driver circuit formed can be reduced.

Note that the high-resistance drain region 474 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 474 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layeroverlapping with the drain electrode layer 447 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 447 a), so that the reliability of the pixel formed canbe increased. Specifically, with the formation of the high-resistancedrain region 474 b, the conductivity can be gradually varied from thedrain electrode layer 447 b to the high-resistance drain region 474 band the channel formation region. Thus, when the transistor is operatedwhile the drain electrode layer 447 b is connected to a wiring thatsupplies a high power supply potential VDD, even when a high electricfield is applied between the gate electrode layer 471 and the drainelectrode layer 447 b, the high-resistance drain region 474 b serves asa buffer and the high electric field is not applied locally, so that thetransistor can have increased withstand voltage.

When the high-resistance drain region 474 b (or the high-resistancedrain region 474 a) is formed in the oxide semiconductor layeroverlapping with the drain electrode layer 447 b (or the sourceelectrode layer 447 a), the amount of leakage current in the channelformation region 473 in the pixel formed can be reduced.

Next, a protective insulating layer 453 is formed over the oxideinsulating layer 466. In this embodiment, a silicon nitride film isformed by an RF sputtering method. Since an RF sputtering method hashigh productivity, it is preferably used as a deposition method of theprotective insulating layer 453. An inorganic insulating film which doesnot contain impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW andblocks entry of such impurities from the outside is used to form theprotective insulating layer 453, and a silicon nitride film, an aluminumnitride film, silicon nitride oxide film, an aluminum oxynitride film,or the like is used. Needless to say, the protective insulating layer453 is a light-transmitting insulating film.

The protective insulating layer 453 is preferably in contact with thefirst gate insulating layer 452 a or an insulating film serving as abase provided below the protective insulating layer 453, and blocksentry of impurities such as moisture, a hydrogen ion, and OW from thevicinity of a side surface of the substrate. It is particularlyeffective to use a silicon nitride film as the first gate insulatinglayer 452 a or the insulating film serving as the base, which is incontact with the protective insulating layer 453. In other words, asilicon nitride film provided so as to surround a bottom surface, a topsurface, and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer increasesthe reliability of the display device.

Next, a planarization insulating layer 454 is formed over the protectiveinsulating layer 453. The planarization insulating layer 454 can beformed from an organic material having heat resistance, such aspolyimide, acrylic, benzocyclobutene, polyamide, or epoxy. Other thansuch organic materials, it is also possible to use a low-dielectricconstant material (a low-k material), a siloxane-based resin, PSG(phosphosilicate glass), BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass), or the like.Note that the planarization insulating layer 454 may be formed bystacking a plurality of insulating films formed from these materials.

Note that a siloxane-based resin corresponds to a resin including aSi—O—Si bond formed using a siloxane-based material as a startingmaterial. The siloxane-based resin may include an organic group (e.g.,an alkyl group or an aryl group) or a fluoro group as a substituent.Moreover, the organic group may include a fluoro group.

There is no particular limitation on the method for forming theplanarization insulating layer 454. The planarization insulating layer454 can be formed, depending on the material, by a method such as asputtering method, an SOG method, a spin coating method, a dippingmethod, a spray coating method, or a droplet discharge method (e.g., anink-jet method, screen printing, or offset printing), or a tool such asa doctor knife, a roll coater, a curtain coater, or a knife coater.

Then, a fourth photolithography process is performed so that a resistmask is formed and a contact hole 494 that reaches the drain electrodelayer 447 b is formed by etching of the planarization insulating layer454, the protective insulating layer 453, and the oxide insulating layer466 (see FIG. 39B). Moreover, contact holes that reach the gateelectrode layers 461 and 471 are also formed with that etching.Alternatively, a resist mask for forming the contact hole that reachesthe drain electrode layer 447 b may be formed by an ink-jet method. Aphotomask is not used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jetmethod, which results in reducing manufacturing costs.

Next, the resist mask is removed and then a light-transmittingconductive film is formed. The light-transmitting conductive film can beformed from indium oxide (In₂O₃), an alloy of indium oxide and tin oxide(In₂O₃—SnO₂, abbreviated to ITO), or the like by a sputtering method, avacuum evaporation method, or the like. As another material for thelight-transmitting conductive film, an Al—Zn—O-based non-single-crystalfilm containing nitrogen (i.e., an Al—Zn—O—N-based non-single-crystalfilm), a Zn—O-based non-single-crystal film containing nitrogen, or anSn—Zn—O-based non-single-crystal film containing nitrogen may be used.Note that the percentage (at. %) of zinc in the Al—Zn—O—N-basednon-single-crystal film is less than or equal to 47 at. % and is higherthan that of aluminum in the non-single-crystal film; the percentage(at. %) of aluminum in the non-single-crystal film is higher than thatof nitrogen in the non-single-crystal film. Such a material is etchedwith a hydrochloric acid-based solution. However, since a residue iseasily generated particularly in etching ITO, an alloy of indium oxideand zinc oxide (In₂O₃—ZnO) may be used to improve etchingprocessability.

Next, a fifth photolithography process is performed so that a resistmask is formed, and unnecessary portions are removed by etching to forma pixel electrode layer 477 and a conductive layer 467 (see FIG. 39C).

Through the above-described steps, the thin film transistor 460 and thethin film transistor 470 can be separately formed in the driver circuitand the pixel portion, respectively, over the same substrate with theuse of five masks. The thin film transistor 460 for the driver circuitis a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 462 having the high-resistance drain region 464 a,the high-resistance drain region 464 b, and the channel formation region463. The thin film transistor 470 for the pixel is a channel-etched thinfilm transistor including the oxide semiconductor layer 472 having thehigh-resistance drain region 474 a, the high-resistance drain region 474b, and the channel formation region 473. Even when a high electric fieldis applied, the high-resistance drain region serves as a buffer and thehigh electric field is not applied locally, so that the thin filmtransistors 460 and 470 can have high withstand voltage.

In addition, a storage capacitor that is constituted by a capacitorwiring and a capacitor electrode with the first gate insulating layer452 a and the second gate insulating layer 452 b as dielectrics can beformed over the same substrate. The thin film transistors 470 andstorage capacitors are arranged in matrix to correspond to individualpixels so that a pixel portion is formed, and a driver circuit includingthe thin film transistor 460 is arranged around the pixel portion,whereby one of the substrates for manufacturing an active matrix displaydevice can be obtained.

The pixel electrode layer 477 is electrically connected to the capacitorelectrode layer through a contact hole formed in the planarizationinsulating layer 454, the protective insulating layer 453, and the oxideinsulating layer 466. Note that the capacitor electrode layer can beformed from the same material in the same step as the source electrodelayer 447 a and the drain electrode layer 447 b.

The conductive layer 467 is provided so as to overlap with the channelformation region 463 in the oxide semiconductor layer, whereby theamount of change in threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 460before and after a bias-temperature stress test (referred to as a BTtest) for examining the reliability of a thin film transistor can bereduced. A potential of the conductive layer 467 may be the same as ordifferent from that of the gate electrode layer 461. The conductivelayer 467 can also function as a second gate electrode layer. Inaddition, the potential of the conductive layer 467 may be placed in aGND state or a state of 0V, or the conductive layer 467 may be placed ina floating state.

Note that the resist mask for forming the pixel electrode layer 477 andthe conductive layer 467 may be formed by an ink-jet method. A photomaskis not used when the resist mask is formed by an ink-jet method, whichresults in reducing manufacturing costs.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, an example where the first heat treatment isdifferent from that in Embodiment 4 is illustrated in FIGS. 40A to 40C.Since FIGS. 40A to 40C are the same as FIGS. 6A1 to 39C except for partof the steps, the same reference numerals are used for the same portionsand detailed description of the same portions is not repeated.

FIGS. 40A to 40C are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing two thin film transistors.

First, according to Embodiment 4, a light-transmitting conductive filmis formed over a substrate 450 having an insulating surface. Then, aresist mask is formed over the conductive film through a firstphotolithography process and selective etching is performed using theresist mask, whereby gate electrode layers 461 and 471 are formed.

Next, a stack of a first gate insulating layer 452 a and a second gateinsulating layer 452 b is formed over the gate electrode layers 461 and471.

Then, an oxide semiconductor film 480 with a thickness of 2 nm to 200 nminclusive is formed over the second gate insulating layer 452 b (seeFIG. 40A). Note that the steps so far are the same as the steps inEmbodiment 4; FIG. 40A corresponds to FIG. 38A.

Next, the oxide semiconductor film is subjected to dehydration ordehydrogenation in an inert gas atmosphere or under reduced pressure.The temperature of first heat treatment for dehydration ordehydrogenation is greater than or equal to 350° C. and less than thestrain point of the substrate, preferably greater than or equal to 400°C. Here, after the substrate is put in an electric furnace which is akind of heat treatment apparatus and heat treatment is performed on theoxide semiconductor film in a nitrogen atmosphere, cooling is performedwithout exposure to the air, and water or hydrogen are prevented frombeing mixed into the oxide semiconductor film again; thus, the oxidesemiconductor film is changed into an oxygen-deficient oxidesemiconductor film so as to be a low-resistance oxide semiconductorfilm, i.e., an n-type (n⁻-type or n⁺-type) oxide semiconductor film.After that, cooling is performed by introducing a high-purity oxygen gasor a high-purity N₂O gas into the same furnace. It is preferable thatwater, hydrogen, and the like be not contained in an oxygen gas or a N₂Ogas. Alternatively, the purity of an oxygen gas or a N₂O gas which isintroduced into the heat treatment apparatus is preferably greater thanor equal to 6 N (99.9999%), more preferably greater than or equal to 7 N(99.99999%) (i.e., the impurity concentration of the oxygen gas or theN₂O gas is preferably less than or equal to 1 ppm, more preferably lessthan or equal to 0.1 ppm).

Moreover, after the first heat treatment for dehydration ordehydrogenation, heat treatment may be performed at 200° C. to 400° C.inclusive, preferably 200° C. to 300° C. inclusive, in an oxygen gas, anN₂O gas atmosphere, or an ultra-dry air (with a dew point of less thanor equal to −40° C., preferably less than or equal to −60° C.)atmosphere.

The entire oxide semiconductor film is made to contain an excess amountof oxygen through the above steps; thus, an oxide semiconductor film 496with increased resistance, that is, an i-type oxide semiconductor film496 is obtained (see FIG. 40B). As a result, reliability of the thinfilm transistor to be completed later can be improved.

In this embodiment, an example in which dehydration or dehydrogenationare performed after the oxide semiconductor film is formed is shown, butthis embodiment is not limited thereto. The first heat treatment mayalso be performed on island-like oxide semiconductor layers which havebeen processed from the oxide semiconductor film as in Embodiment 4.

In addition, the oxide semiconductor film is dehydrated ordehydrogenated in an inert gas atmosphere or under reduced pressure andcooled in an inert gas atmosphere. Then, the oxide semiconductor film isprocessed into island-like oxide semiconductor layers through aphotolithography process. After that, heat treatment may be performed at200° C. to 400° C. inclusive, preferably 200° C. to 300° C. inclusive,in an oxygen gas atmosphere, an N₂O gas atmosphere, or an ultra-dry air(with a dew point of less than or equal to −40° C., preferably less thanor equal to −60° C.) atmosphere.

In addition, before the oxide semiconductor film is formed, heattreatment (at greater than or equal to 400° C. and less than the strainpoint of the substrate) may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere(nitrogen, or helium, neon, argon, or the like), an oxygen atmosphere,an ultra-dry air (with a dew point of less than or equal to −40° C.,preferably less than or equal to −60° C.) atmosphere, or under reducedpressure, thereby removing impurities such as hydrogen and watercontained in the gate insulating layers.

Then, the oxide semiconductor film 496 is processed into the island-likeoxide semiconductor layers 497 and 498 through a second photolithographyprocess.

After that, as in FIGS. 38C, 38D, and 38E, and FIGS. 39A, 39B, and 39Cof Embodiment 4, in the peripheral driver circuit portion, the oxidesemiconductor layer 497 is only partly etched away to form an oxidesemiconductor layer having a groove (a depression portion),low-resistance drain regions 446 a and 446 b in contact with the oxidesemiconductor layer 497 are formed, a source electrode layer 465 a and adrain electrode layer 465 b which are metal conductive layers and incontact with the low-resistance drain regions 446 a and 446 brespectively are formed, and an oxide insulating layer 466 in contactwith part of the oxide semiconductor layer 497 is formed, whereby a thinfilm transistor 492 for the driver circuit is manufactured. Meanwhile,in the pixel portion, a source electrode layer 447 a and a drainelectrode layer 447 b which are light-transmitting conductive layers andin contact with the oxide semiconductor layer 498 are formed, and theoxide insulating layer 466 in contact with part of the oxidesemiconductor layer 498 is formed, whereby a thin film transistor 493for the pixel is manufactured.

Next, second heat treatment (preferably 200° C. to 400° C. inclusive,for example, 250° C. to 350° C. inclusive) is performed in an inert gasatmosphere or an oxygen gas atmosphere. For example, the second heattreatment is performed at 250° C. for one hour in a nitrogen atmosphere.

Then, a protective insulating layer 453 and a planarization insulatinglayer 454 are stacked so as to cover the thin film transistors 492 and493 and to be in contact with the oxide insulating layer 466. A contacthole that reaches the drain electrode layer 447 b is formed in theprotective insulating layer 453 and the planarization insulating layer454, and a light-transmitting conductive film is formed in the contacthole and over the planarization insulating layer 454. Thelight-transmitting conductive film is selectively etched to form aconductive layer 467 and a pixel electrode layer 477 electricallyconnected to the thin film transistor 493 (see FIG. 40C).

Through the above-described steps, the thin film transistor 492 and thethin film transistor 493 in each of which the entire oxide semiconductorlayer is i-type can be separately formed in the driver circuit and thepixel portion, respectively, over the same substrate with the use offive masks. The thin film transistor 492 for the driver circuit is achannel-etched thin film transistor including the oxide semiconductorlayer 497 which is entirely i-type. The thin film transistor 493 for thepixel is a channel-etched thin film transistor including the oxidesemiconductor layer 498 which is entirely i-type.

In addition, a storage capacitor that is constituted by a capacitorwiring layer and a capacitor electrode with the first gate insulatinglayer 452 a and the second gate insulating layer 452 b as dielectricscan be formed over the same substrate. The thin film transistors 493 andstorage capacitors are arranged in matrix so as to correspond toindividual pixels so that a pixel portion is formed, and a drivercircuit including the thin film transistor 492 is arranged around thepixel portion, whereby one of the substrates for manufacturing an activematrix display device can be obtained.

The conductive layer 467 is provided so as to overlap with a channelformation region in the oxide semiconductor layer 497, whereby theamount of change in threshold voltage of the thin film transistor 449before and after a bias-temperature stress test (referred to as a BTtest) for examining the reliability of a thin film transistor can bereduced. A potential of the conductive layer 467 may be the same as ordifferent from that of the gate electrode layer 461. The conductivelayer 467 can also function as a second gate electrode layer. Inaddition, the potential of the conductive layer 467 may be placed in aGND state or a state of 0V, or the conductive layer 467 may be placed ina floating state.

Embodiment 6

This embodiment will show an example in which an active matrix liquidcrystal display device is manufactured with the active matrix substratedescribed in Embodiment 1. Note that this embodiment can also be appliedto any of the active matrix substrates described in Embodiments 2 to 5.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a cross-sectional structure of theactive matrix substrate.

The thin film transistor arranged in the driver circuit and the thinfilm transistor arranged in the pixel portion over one substrate areshown in Embodiment 1; in this embodiment, a storage capacitor, a gatewiring, and a terminal portion of a source wiring are also shown inaddition to these thin film transistors. The capacitor, the gate wiring,and the terminal portion of the source wiring can be formed in the samemanufacturing steps as in Embodiment 1 and can be manufactured withoutan increase in the number of photomasks and an increase in the number ofsteps. Moreover, in a portion to serve as a display region in the pixelportion, all the gate wiring, the source wiring, and a capacitor wiringlayer are formed from a light-transmitting conductive film, resulting ina high aperture ratio. Furthermore, a metal wiring can be used for thesource wiring layer in a portion that is not the display region in orderto reduce the wiring resistance.

In FIG. 7A, a thin film transistor 210 is a channel-etched thin filmtransistor arranged in a driver circuit, and a thin film transistor 220electrically connected to a pixel electrode layer 227 is achannel-etched thin film transistor arranged in a pixel portion.

In this embodiment, the thin film transistor 220 formed over a substrate200 has the same structure as the thin film transistor 410 in Embodiment1.

A capacitor wiring layer 230 which is formed from the samelight-transmitting material and in the same step as a gate electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 220 overlaps with a capacitorelectrode layer 231, with a first gate insulating layer 202 a and asecond gate insulating layer 202 b serving as dielectrics placedtherebetween; thus, a storage capacitor is formed. The capacitorelectrode layer 231 is formed from the same light-transmitting materialand in the same step as a source electrode layer or a drain electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 220. Since the storage capacitor aswell as the thin film transistor 220 has a light-transmitting property,the aperture ratio can be increased.

The light-transmitting property of the storage capacitor is important inincreasing the aperture ratio. For small liquid crystal display panelsof 10 inches or smaller in particular, even when the size of pixels isdecreased in order to realize higher resolution of display images byincreasing the number of gate wirings, for example, a high apertureratio can be achieved. Moreover, by using a light-transmitting film forcomponents in the thin film transistor 220 and the storage capacitor, ahigh aperture ratio can be achieved even when one pixel is divided intoa plurality of sub-pixels in order to realize a wide viewing angle. Thatis, a high aperture ratio can be maintained even when a group ofhigh-density thin film transistors is arranged, and the display regioncan have a sufficient area. For example, when one pixel includes two tofour sub-pixels and storage capacitors, since the storage capacitors aswell as the thin film transistors have a light-transmitting property,the aperture ratio can be increased.

Note that the storage capacitor is provided below the pixel electrodelayer 227, and the capacitor electrode layer 231 is electricallyconnected to the pixel electrode layer 227.

This embodiment shows the example in which the storage capacitor isconstituted by the capacitor electrode layer 231 and the capacitorwiring layer 230; however, there is no particular limitation on thestructure of the storage capacitor. For example, a storage capacitor maybe formed in such a manner that, without providing a capacitor wiringlayer, a pixel electrode layer overlaps with a gate wiring in anadjacent pixel with a planarization insulating layer, a protectiveinsulating layer, a first gate insulating layer, and a second gateinsulating layer placed therebetween.

A plurality of gate wirings, source wirings, and capacitor wiring layersare provided in accordance with the pixel density. In the terminalportion, a plurality of first terminal electrodes at the same potentialas the gate wiring, a plurality of second terminal electrodes at thesame potential as the source wiring, a plurality of third terminalelectrodes at the same potential as the capacitor wiring layer, and thelike are arranged. There is no particular limitation on the number ofeach of the terminal electrodes, and the number of the terminals can bedetermined by a practitioner as appropriate.

In the terminal portion, the first terminal electrode which has the samepotential as the gate wiring can be formed from the samelight-transmitting material as the pixel electrode layer 227. The firstterminal electrode is electrically connected to the gate wiring througha contact hole that reaches the gate wiring. The contact hole thatreaches the gate wiring is formed by selective etching of aplanarization insulating layer 204, a protective insulating layer 203,an oxide insulating layer 216, the second gate insulating layer 202 b,and the first gate insulating layer 202 a with the use of a photomaskfor forming a contact hole for electrically connecting the drainelectrode layer of the thin film transistor 220 and the pixel electrodelayer 227.

A gate electrode layer of the thin film transistor 210 arranged in thedriver circuit may be electrically connected to a conductive layer 217provided above an oxide semiconductor layer. In that case, a contacthole is formed by selective etching of the planarization insulatinglayer 204, the protective insulating layer 203, the oxide insulatinglayer 216, the second gate insulating layer 202 b, and the first gateinsulating layer 202 a with the use of the photomask for forming thecontact hole for electrically connecting the drain electrode layer ofthe thin film transistor 220 and the pixel electrode layer 227. Theconductive layer 217 and the gate electrode layer of the thin filmtransistor 210 arranged in the driver circuit are electrically connectedthrough the contact hole.

A second terminal electrode 235 which has the same potential as a sourcewiring (a source wiring 234 a to a source wiring 234 c) in the drivercircuit can be formed from the same light-transmitting material as thepixel electrode layer 227. The second terminal electrode 235 iselectrically connected to the source wiring in the driver circuitthrough a contact hole that reaches the source wiring. The source wiringin the driver circuit is a metal wiring, is formed from the samematerial and in the same step as a source electrode layer of the thinfilm transistor 210, and has the same potential as the source electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 210.

The third terminal electrode which has the same potential as thecapacitor wiring layer 230 can be formed from the samelight-transmitting material as the pixel electrode layer 227. Moreover,a contact hole that reaches the capacitor wiring layer 230 can be formedusing the same photomask in the same step as those for forming a contacthole for electrically connecting the capacitor electrode layer 231 andthe pixel electrode layer 227.

In the case of manufacturing an active matrix liquid crystal displaydevice, a liquid crystal layer is provided between an active matrixsubstrate and a counter substrate provided with a counter electrode(also referred to as a counter electrode layer), and the active matrixsubstrate and the counter substrate are fixed to each other. A commonelectrode electrically connected to the counter electrode on the countersubstrate is provided over the active matrix substrate, and a fourthterminal electrode electrically connected to the common electrode isprovided in the terminal portion. The fourth terminal electrode is usedfor setting the common electrode to a fixed potential such as GND or 0V. The fourth terminal electrode can be formed from the samelight-transmitting material as the pixel electrode layer 227.

There is no particular limitation on the structure in which the sourceelectrode layer of the thin film transistor 220 and the source electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 210 are electrically connected to eachother; for example, a connection electrode for connecting the sourceelectrode layer of the thin film transistor 220 and the source electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 210 may be formed in the same step asthe pixel electrode layer 227. Alternatively, in the portion that is notthe display region, the source electrode layer of the thin filmtransistor 220 and the source electrode layer of the thin filmtransistor 210 may be in contact with each other to overlap with eachother.

Note that FIG. 7A illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a gatewiring layer 232 in the driver circuit. Since this embodiment shows anexample of a small liquid crystal display panel of less than or equal to10 inches, the gate wiring layer 232 in the driver circuit is formedfrom the same light-transmitting material as the gate electrode layer ofthe thin film transistor 220.

When the same material is used for the gate electrode layer, the sourceelectrode layer, the drain electrode layer, the pixel electrode layer, adifferent electrode layer, and a different wiring layer, a commonsputtering target and a common manufacturing apparatus can be used andthe material costs and costs of an etchant (or an etching gas) used foretching can be reduced; thus, manufacturing costs can be reduced.

When a photosensitive resin material is used for the planarizationinsulating layer 204 in the structure of FIG. 7A, the step for forming aresist mask can be omitted.

FIG. 7B illustrates a cross-sectional structure, part of which isdifferent from the structure in FIG. 7A. FIG. 7B is the same as FIG. 7Aexcept that the planarization insulating layer 204 is not provided;therefore, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numeralsand detailed description of the same portions is not repeated. In FIG.7B, a pixel electrode layer 227, a conductive layer 217, and a secondterminal electrode 235 are formed on and in contact with a protectiveinsulating layer 203.

With the structure in FIG. 7B, the step for forming the planarizationinsulating layer 204 can be omitted.

Embodiment 7

This embodiment will show an example in which part of a gate wiring ismade from a metal wiring so that the wiring resistance is reduced,because there is a possibility that the resistance of alight-transmitting wiring might become a problem in the case where thesize of a liquid crystal display panel exceeds 10 inches and reaches 60inches and even 120 inches.

Note that in FIG. 8A, the same portions as in FIG. 7A are denoted by thesame reference numerals and detailed description of the same portions isnot repeated. This embodiment can also be applied to any of the activematrix substrates described in Embodiments 1 to 4.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example in which part of a gate wiring in adriver circuit is made from a metal wiring in contact with alight-transmitting wiring which is the same as a gate electrode layer ofa thin film transistor 210. Note that the number of photomasks is largerthan that in Embodiment 1 since the metal wiring is formed.

First, a heat-resistance conductive material film (with a thickness of100 nm to 500 nm inclusive) that can withstand first heat treatment fordehydration or dehydrogenation is formed over a substrate 200.

In this embodiment, a 370-nm-thick tungsten film and a 50-nm-thicktantalum nitride film are formed. Although a stack of the tantalumnitride film and the tungsten film is used as the conductive film here,there is no particular limitation and the conductive film may be formedfrom an element selected from Ta, W, Ti, Mo, Al, and Cu; an alloycontaining any of these elements as its component, an alloy containing acombination of any of these elements, or a nitride containing any ofthese elements as its component. The heat-resistance conductive materialfilm is not limited to a single layer containing the above-describedelement and may be a stack of two or more layers.

Through a first photolithography process, metal wirings are formed, sothat a first metal wiring layer 236 and a second metal wiring layer 237are formed. An ICP (inductively coupled plasma) etching method ispreferably used for etching of the tungsten film and the tantalumnitride film. The films can be etched into a desired tapered shape withan ICP etching method with appropriate adjustment of etching conditions(e.g., the amount of electric power applied to a coiled electrode, theamount of electric power applied to a substrate-side electrode, and thetemperature of the substrate-side electrode). The first metal wiringlayer 236 and the second metal wiring layer 237 are tapered; thus,defects in formation of a light-transmitting conductive film to beformed thereon can be reduced.

Then, after the light-transmitting conductive film is formed, a gatewiring layer 238, a gate electrode layer of the thin film transistor210, and a gate electrode layer of the thin film transistor 220 areformed through a second photolithography process. The light-transmittingconductive film is formed using any of the conductive materials thattransmit visible light described in Embodiment 1.

Note that for example, if there is an interface where the gate wiringlayer 238 is in contact with the first metal wiring layer 236 or thesecond metal wiring layer 237, it is possible that, depending on thematerial of the light-transmitting conductive film, an oxide film isformed with later heat treatment or the like so that contact resistanceis increased. Consequently, the second metal wiring layer 237 ispreferably formed from a metal nitride film that prevents oxidation ofthe first metal wiring layer 236.

Next, a gate insulating layer, an oxide semiconductor layer, and thelike are formed in the same step as in Embodiment 1. Subsequent stepsare performed according to Embodiment 1 to complete the active matrixsubstrate.

This embodiment shows an example in which after the formation of aplanarization insulating layer 204, the planarization insulating layerin a terminal portion is selectively removed using a photomask. It ispreferable that the planarization insulating layer be not placed in theterminal portion so that the terminal portion can be connected to an FPCin a favorable manner.

In FIG. 8A, a second terminal electrode 235 is formed over a protectiveinsulating layer 203. FIG. 8A illustrates the gate wiring layer 238which overlaps with part of the second metal wiring layer 237;alternatively, the gate wiring layer 238 may cover all the first metalwiring layer 236 and the second metal wiring layer 237. In other words,the first metal wiring layer 236 and the second metal wiring layer 237can be referred to as auxiliary wirings for reducing the resistance ofthe gate wiring layer 238.

In the terminal portion, a first terminal electrode that has the samepotential as the gate wiring is formed over the protective insulatinglayer 203 and electrically connected to the second metal wiring layer237. A wiring led from the terminal portion is also formed using a metalwiring.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the wiring resistance, the metal wirings(i.e., the first metal wiring layer 236 and the second metal wiringlayer 237) can be used as the auxiliary wirings for the gate wiringlayer and a capacitor wiring layer in a portion that does not serve as adisplay region.

FIG. 8B illustrates a cross-sectional structure, part of which isdifferent from the structure in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8B is the same as FIG. 8Aexcept for a material of the gate electrode layer in the thin filmtransistor in the driver circuit; therefore, the same portions aredenoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description of thesame portions is not repeated.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example in which the gate electrode layer in thethin film transistor in the driver circuit is made from a metal wiring.In the driver circuit, a material of the gate electrode layer is notlimited to a light-transmitting material.

In FIG. 8B, a thin film transistor 240 in the driver circuit includes agate electrode layer in which a second metal wiring layer 242 is stackedover a first metal wiring layer 241. Note that the first metal wiringlayer 241 can be formed from the same material in the same step as thefirst metal wiring layer 236. Moreover, the second metal wiring layer242 can be formed from the same material in the same step as the secondmetal wiring layer 237.

In the case where the first metal wiring layer 241 is electricallyconnected to a conductive layer 217, it is preferable to use a metalnitride film as the second metal wiring layer 242 for preventingoxidation of the first metal wiring layer 241.

In this embodiment, metal wirings are used for some wirings so that thewiring resistance is reduced; high resolution of display images isachieved and a high aperture ratio can be realized even when the size ofa liquid crystal display panel reaches 10 inches and reaches 60 inchesand even 120 inches.

Embodiment 8

In this embodiment, an example of a structure of a storage capacitor,which is different from that in Embodiment 6, will be illustrated inFIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 9A is the same as FIG. 7A except for a structureof the storage capacitor; therefore, the same portions are denoted bythe same reference numerals and detailed description of the sameportions is not repeated. FIG. 9A illustrates a cross-sectionalstructure of a storage capacitor and a thin film transistor 220 in apixel.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example in which the storage capacitor isconstituted by a pixel electrode layer 227 and a capacitor wiring layer231 that overlaps with the pixel electrode layer 227, with an oxideinsulating layer 216, a protective insulating layer 203, and aplanarization insulating layer 204 serving as dielectrics. Since thecapacitor wiring layer 231 is formed from the same light-transmittingmaterial in the same step as a source electrode layer of the thin filmtransistor 220 in the pixel, the capacitor wiring layer 231 is arrangedso as not to overlap with a source wiring layer of the thin filmtransistor 220.

In the storage capacitor illustrated in FIG. 9A, a pair of electrodesand the dielectrics have light-transmitting properties, and thus, thestorage capacitor as a whole has light-transmitting properties.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example of a structure of the storage capacitor,which is different from that in FIG. 9A. FIG. 9B is the same as FIG. 7Aexcept for a structure of the storage capacitor; therefore, the sameportions are denoted by the same reference numerals and detaileddescription of the same portions is not repeated.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example in which the storage capacitor isconstituted by a capacitor wiring layer 230 and a stack of an oxidesemiconductor layer 251 and a capacitor electrode layer 231 whichoverlap with the storage wiring layer 230 with a first gate insulatinglayer 202 a and a second gate insulating layer 202 b serving asdielectrics. The capacitor electrode layer 231 is stacked on and incontact with the oxide semiconductor layer 251 and functions as oneelectrode of the storage capacitor. Note that the capacitor electrodelayer 231 is formed from the same light-transmitting material in thesame step as a source electrode layer or a drain electrode layer of athin film transistor 220. Moreover, since the capacitor wiring layer 230is formed from the same light-transmitting material in the same step asa gate electrode layer of the thin film transistor 220, the capacitorwiring layer 230 is arranged so as not to overlap with a gate wiringlayer of the thin film transistor 220.

The capacitor electrode layer 231 is electrically connected to a pixelelectrode layer 227.

Also in the storage capacitor illustrated in FIG. 9B, a pair ofelectrodes and the dielectrics have light-transmitting properties, andthus, the storage capacitor as a whole has light-transmittingproperties.

Each of the storage capacitors illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B haslight-transmitting properties; thus, sufficient capacitance and a highaperture ratio can be obtained even when the size of the pixel isdecreased in order to realize higher resolution of display images byincreasing the number of gate wirings, for example.

Embodiment 9

In this embodiment, an example of a semiconductor device will bedescribed below in which at least some of driver circuits and a pixelportion are formed over one substrate.

A thin film transistor placed in the pixel portion is formed accordingto any of Embodiments 1 to 5. Since the thin film transistor describedin any of Embodiments 1 to 5 is an n-channel TFT, some of drivercircuits that can be constituted by n-channel TFTs among the drivercircuits are formed over a substrate over which the thin film transistorin the pixel portion is formed.

FIG. 14A illustrates an example of a block diagram of an active matrixdisplay device. A pixel portion 5301, a first scan line driver circuit5302, a second scan line driver circuit 5303, and a signal line drivercircuit 5304 are provided over a substrate 5300 in the display device.In the pixel portion 5301, a plurality of signal lines extended from thesignal line driver circuit 5304 are placed, and a plurality of scanlines extended from the first scan line driver circuit 5302 and thesecond scan line driver circuit 5303 are placed. Note that pixels eachincluding a display element are arranged in matrix in regions where thescan lines and the signal lines intersect with each other. The substrate5300 of the display device is connected to a timing control circuit 5305(also referred to as a controller or a control IC) through a connectionportion such as an FPC (flexible printed circuit).

In FIG. 14A, the first scan line driver circuit 5302, the second scanline driver circuit 5303, and the signal line driver circuit 5304 areformed over the substrate 5300 where the pixel portion 5301 is formed.Consequently, the number of components of a driver circuit and the likethat are externally provided is reduced, so that costs can be reduced.Moreover, the number of connections in the connection portion in thecase where wirings are extended from a driver circuit provided outsidethe substrate 5300 can be reduced, and the reliability or yield can beincreased.

Note that the timing control circuit 5305 supplies a first scan linedriver circuit start signal (GSP1) (a start signal is also referred toas a start pulse) and a first scan line driver circuit clock signal(GCK1), for example, to the first scan line driver circuit 5302.Furthermore, the timing control circuit 5305 supplies a second scan linedriver circuit start signal (GSP2) and a second scan line driver circuitclock signal (GCK2), for example, to the second scan line driver circuit5303. Moreover, the timing control circuit 5305 supplies a signal linedriver circuit start signal (SSP), a signal line driver circuit clocksignal (SCK), video signal data (DATA, also simply referred to as avideo signal), and a latch signal (LAT), for example, to the signal linedriver circuit 5304. Each clock signal may be a plurality of clocksignals with shifted phases or may be supplied together with a signal(CKB) obtained by inverting the clock signal. Note that it is possibleto omit one of the first scan line driver circuit 5302 and the secondscan line driver circuit 5303.

FIG. 14B illustrates a structure in which the first scan line drivercircuit 5302 and the second scan line driver circuit 5303 are formedover the substrate 5300 where the pixel portion 5301 is formed, and thesignal line driver circuit 5304 is formed over a substrate which isdifferent from the substrate 5300 where the pixel portion 5301 isformed.

The thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 5 are n-channel TFTs.FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate an example of a structure and operation ofa signal line driver circuit constituted by n-channel TFTs.

The signal line driver circuit includes a shift register 5601 and aswitching circuit 5602. The switching circuit 5602 includes a pluralityof switching circuits 5602_1 to 5602_N (Nis a natural number of greaterthan or equal to 2). The switching circuits 5602_1 to 5602_N eachinclude a plurality of thin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k (k is anatural number of greater than or equal to 2). The example where thethin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k are n-channel TFTs is describedbelow.

A connection relation in the signal line driver circuit is described byusing the switching circuit 5602_1 as an example. First terminals of thethin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k are connected to wirings 5604_1to 5604_k, respectively. Second terminals of the thin film transistors5603_1 to 5603_k are connected to signal lines S1 to Sk, respectively.Gates of the thin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k are connected to awiring 5605_1.

The shift register 5601 has a function of sequentially selecting theswitching circuits 5602_1 to 5602_N by sequentially outputting H-levelsignals (also referred to as an H signal or a signal at a high powersupply potential level) to wirings 5605_1 to 5605_N.

The switching circuit 5602_1 has a function of controlling a conductionstate between the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k and the signal lines S1 to Sk(conduction between the first terminals and the second terminals), thatis, a function of controlling whether potentials of the wirings 5604_1to 5604_k are supplied to the signal lines S1 to Sk. In this manner, theswitching circuit 5602_1 functions as a selector. Moreover, the thinfilm transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k have functions of controllingconduction states between the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k and the signallines S1 to Sk, respectively, that is, functions of controlling whetherpotentials of the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k are supplied to the signallines S1 to Sk, respectively. In this manner, each of the thin filmtransistors 5603_1 to 5603_k functions as a switch.

Video signal data (DATA) is input to each of the wirings 5604_1 to5604_k. The video signal data (DATA) is often an analog signal thatcorresponds to image data or an image signal.

Next, the operation of the signal line driver circuit in FIG. 15A isdescribed with reference to a timing chart in FIG. 15B. FIG. 15Billustrates examples of signals Sout_1 to Sout_N and signals Vdata_1 toVdata_k. The signals Sout_1 to Sout_N are examples of output signalsfrom the shift register 5601. The signals Vdata_1 to Vdata_k areexamples of signals input to the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k. Note that oneoperation period of the signal line driver circuit corresponds to onegate selection period in a display device. For example, one gateselection period is divided into periods T1 to TN. Each of the periodsT1 to TN is a period for writing the video signal data (DATA) into apixel in a selected row.

Note that signal waveform distortion and the like in each of thestructures illustrated in drawings and the like in this embodiment areexaggerated for simplicity in some cases. Therefore, this embodiment isnot necessarily limited to the scale illustrated in the drawing and thelike.

In the periods T1 to TN, the shift register 5601 sequentially outputsH-level signals to the wirings 5605_1 to 5605_N. For example, in theperiod T1, the shift register 5601 outputs a high-level signal to thewiring 5605_1. Then, the thin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k areturned on, so that the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k and the signal lines S1to Sk are brought into conduction. At this time, Data(S1) to Data(Sk)are input to the wirings 5604_1 to 5604_k, respectively. The Data(S1) toData(Sk) are written into pixels in first to kth columns in a selectedrow through the thin film transistors 5603_1 to 5603_k, respectively. Insuch a manner, in the periods T1 to TN, the video signal data (DATA) aresequentially written into the pixels in the selected row by k columns.

The video signal data (DATA) are written into pixels by a plurality ofcolumns as described above, whereby the number of video signal data(DATA) or the number of wirings can be reduced. Consequently, the numberof connections with an external circuit can be reduced. Moreover, thetime for writing can be extended when video signals are written intopixels by a plurality of columns; thus, insufficient writing of videosignals can be prevented.

Note that a circuit constituted by any of the thin film transistors inEmbodiments 1 to 5 can be used for the shift register 5601 and theswitching circuit 5602. In that case, the shift register 5601 can beconstituted by only n-channel transistors.

Further, an example of part of the scan line driver circuit and part ofthe signal line driver circuit, or a shift register used for part of thescan line driver circuit or part of the signal line driver circuit willbe described.

The scan line driver circuit includes a shift register. Additionally,the scan line driver circuit may include a level shifter, a buffer, andthe like in some cases. In the scan line driver circuit, a clock signal(CLK) and a start pulse signal (SP) are input to the shift register, sothat a selection signal is generated. The selection signal generated isbuffered and amplified by the buffer, and the resulting signal issupplied to a corresponding scan line. Gate electrodes of transistors inpixels of one line are connected to a scan line. Since the transistorsin the pixels of one line have to be turned on all at once, a bufferthat can supply a large current is used.

Further, one embodiment of part of the scan line driver circuit and partof the signal line driver circuit, or a shift register used for part ofthe scan line driver circuit or part of the signal line driver circuitis described with reference to FIGS. 16A to 16C and FIGS. 17A and 17B.

The shift register includes first to Nth pulse output circuits 10_1 to10_N (Nis a natural number greater than or equal to 3) (see FIG. 16A).In the shift register illustrated in FIG. 16A, a first clock signal CK1,a second clock signal CK2, a third clock signal CK3, and a fourth clocksignal CK4 are supplied from a first wiring 11, a second wiring 12, athird wiring 13, and a fourth wiring 14, respectively, to the first toNth pulse output circuits 10_1 to 10_N. A start pulse SP1 (a first startpulse) is input from a fifth wiring 15 to the first pulse output circuit10_1. To the nth pulse output circuit 10_n of the second or subsequentstage (n is a natural number of greater than or equal to 2 and less thanor equal to N), a signal from the pulse output circuit of the previousstage is input. To the first pulse output circuit 10_1, a signal fromthe third pulse output circuit 10_3 of the stage following the nextstage is input. In a similar manner, to the nth pulse output circuit10_n of the second or subsequent stage, a signal from the (n+2)th pulseoutput circuit 10 (n+2) of the stage following the next stage (such asignal is referred to as a subsequent-stage signal OUT(+2)) is input.Therefore, the pulse output circuit of each stage outputs a first outputsignal (OUT(1)(SR) to OUT(N)(SR)) to be input to the pulse outputcircuit of the next stage and/or the pulse output circuit of the stagebefore the previous stage and a second output signal (OUT(1) to OUT(N))to be input to a different wiring or the like. Note that since thesubsequent-stage signal OUT(+2) is not input to the last two stages ofthe shift register as illustrated in FIG. 16A, a second start pulse SP2and a third start pulse SP3 may be additionally input to the stagebefore the last stage and the last stage, respectively, for example.

Note that a clock signal (CK) is a signal whose level alternates betweenan H-level and an L-level (also referred to as an L signal or a signalat low power supply potential level) at regular intervals. Here, thefirst clock signal (CK1) to the fourth clock signal (CK4) are eachdelayed by 1/4 cycle sequentially. In this embodiment, driving of thepulse output circuit or the like is controlled with the first to fourthclock signals (CK1) to (CK4). Note that the clock signal is alsoreferred to as GCK or SCK in some cases depending on a driver circuit towhich the clock signal is input; the clock signal is referred to as CKin the following description.

In addition, each of the first to Nth pulse output circuits 10_1 to 10_Nincludes a first input terminal 21, a second input terminal 22, a thirdinput terminal 23, a fourth input terminal 24, a fifth input terminal25, a first output terminal 26, and a second output terminal 27 (seeFIG. 16B). Each of the first input terminal 21, the second inputterminal 22, and the third input terminal 23 is electrically connectedto any of the first to fourth wirings 11 to 14. For example, in thefirst pulse output circuit 10_1 in FIG. 16A, the first input terminal 21is electrically connected to the first wiring 11, the second inputterminal 22 is electrically connected to the second wiring 12, and thethird input terminal 23 is electrically connected to the third wiring13. In the second pulse output circuit 10_2, the first input terminal 21is electrically connected to the second wiring 12, the second inputterminal 22 is electrically connected to the third wiring 13, and thethird input terminal 23 is electrically connected to the fourth wiring14.

In the first pulse output circuit 10_1, the first clock signal CK1 isinput to the first input terminal 21; the second clock signal CK2 isinput to the second input terminal 22; the third clock signal CK3 isinput to the third input terminal 23; a start pulse is input to thefourth input terminal 24; a subsequent-stage signal OUT(3) is input tothe fifth input terminal 25; the first output signal OUT(1)(SR) isoutput from the first output terminal 26; and the second output signalOUT(1) is output from the second output terminal 27.

In the first to Nth pulse output circuits 10_1 to 10_N, a thin filmtransistor (TFT) having four terminals described in the above embodimentcan be used in addition to a thin film transistor having threeterminals.

When an oxide semiconductor is used for a channel formation region inthe thin film transistor, the threshold voltage sometimes shifts in thepositive or negative direction depending on a manufacturing process. Forthat reason, the thin film transistor in which an oxide semiconductor isused for a channel formation layer preferably has a structure in whichthe threshold voltage can be controlled.

Next, an example of a specific circuit configuration of the pulse outputcircuit will be described with reference to FIG. 16C.

The pulse output circuit illustrated in FIG. 16C includes first tothirteenth transistors 31 to 43. A signal or a power supply potential issupplied to the first to thirteenth transistors 31 to 43 from a powersupply line 51 to which a first high power supply potential VDD issupplied, a power supply line 52 to which a second high power supplypotential VCC is supplied, and a power supply line 53 to which a lowpower supply potential VSS is supplied, in addition to the first tofifth input terminals 21 to 25, the first output terminal 26, and thesecond output terminal 27, which are described above. The relation ofthe power supply potentials of the power supply lines in FIG. 16C is asfollows: the first power supply potential VDD is greater than or equalto the second power supply potential VCC, and the second power supplypotential VCC is higher than the third power supply potential VSS. Notethat the first to fourth clock signals (CK1) to (CK4) are signals whoselevel alternates between an H-level and an L-level at regular intervals;the potential of the clock signal at the H level is VDD and that at theL level is VSS. By making the potential VDD of the power supply line 51higher than the potential VCC of the power supply line 52, a potentialapplied to a gate electrode of a transistor can be lowered, shift inthreshold voltage of the transistor can be reduced, and deterioration ofthe transistor can be suppressed without an adverse effect on theoperation of the transistor. A thin film transistor with four terminalsis preferably used as the first transistor 31 and the sixth to ninthtransistors 36 to 39 among the first to thirteenth transistors 31 to 43.The first transistor 31 and the sixth to ninth transistors 36 to 39 needto operate so that a potential of the gate electrode of the transistor33 and a potential of the gate electrode of the transistor 40 areswitched with a control signal of the gate electrode, and can furtherreduce a malfunction of the pulse output circuit since response to thecontrol signal input to the gate electrode is fast (the rise of on-statecurrent is steep). Thus, by using the thin film transistor with fourterminals, the threshold voltage can be controlled, and a malfunction ofthe pulse output circuit can be further reduced.

Note that a thin film transistor is an element having at least threeterminals of a gate, a drain, and a source. The thin film transistor hasa semiconductor region where a channel region (also referred to as achannel formation region) is formed in a region overlapping with thegate. Current that flows between the drain and the source through thechannel region can be controlled by controlling a potential of the gate.Here, since the source and the drain of the thin film transistor maychange depending on the structure, the operating condition, and the likeof the thin film transistor, it is difficult to define which is a sourceor a drain. Therefore, a region functioning as the source or the drainis not called the source or the drain in some cases. In that case, forexample, such regions may be referred to as a first terminal and asecond terminal.

In FIG. 16C, a first terminal of the first transistor 31 is electricallyconnected to the power supply line 51, a second terminal of the firsttransistor 31 is electrically connected to a first terminal of the ninthtransistor 39, and gate electrodes (a first gate electrode and a secondgate electrode) of the first transistor 31 are electrically connected tothe fourth input terminal 24. A first terminal of the second transistor32 is electrically connected to the power supply line 53, a secondterminal of the second transistor 32 is electrically connected to thefirst terminal of the ninth transistor 39, and a gate electrode of thesecond transistor 32 is electrically connected to a gate electrode ofthe fourth transistor 34. A first terminal of the third transistor 33 iselectrically connected to the first input terminal 21, and a secondterminal of the third transistor 33 is electrically connected to thefirst output terminal 26. A first terminal of the fourth transistor 34is electrically connected to the power supply line 53, and a secondterminal of the fourth transistor 34 is electrically connected to thefirst output terminal 26. A first terminal of the fifth transistor 35 iselectrically connected to the power supply line 53, a second terminal ofthe fifth transistor 35 is electrically connected to the gate electrodeof the second transistor 32 and the gate electrode of the fourthtransistor 34, and a gate electrode of the fifth transistor 35 iselectrically connected to the fourth input terminal 24. A first terminalof the sixth transistor 36 is electrically connected to the power supplyline 52, a second terminal of the sixth transistor 36 is electricallyconnected to the gate electrode of the second transistor 32 and the gateelectrode of the fourth transistor 34, and gate electrodes (a first gateelectrode and a second gate electrode) of the sixth transistor 36 areelectrically connected to the fifth input terminal 25. A first terminalof the seventh transistor 37 is electrically connected to the powersupply line 52, a second terminal of the seventh transistor 37 iselectrically connected to a second terminal of the eighth transistor 38,and gate electrodes (a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode)of the seventh transistor 37 are electrically connected to the thirdinput terminal 23. A first terminal of the eighth transistor 38 iselectrically connected to the gate electrode of the second transistor 32and the gate electrode of the fourth transistor 34, and gate electrodes(a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode) of the eighthtransistor 38 are electrically connected to the second input terminal22. The first terminal of the ninth transistor 39 is electricallyconnected to the second terminal of the first transistor 31 and thesecond terminal of the second transistor 32, a second terminal of theninth transistor 39 is electrically connected to the gate electrode ofthe third transistor 33 and a gate electrode of the tenth transistor 40,and gate electrodes (a first gate electrode and a second gate electrode)of the ninth transistor 39 are electrically connected to the powersupply line 52. A first terminal of the tenth transistor 40 iselectrically connected to the first input terminal 21, a second terminalof the tenth transistor 40 is electrically connected to the secondoutput terminal 27, and the gate electrode of the tenth transistor 40 iselectrically connected to the second terminal of the ninth transistor39. A first terminal of the eleventh transistor 41 is electricallyconnected to the power supply line 53, a second terminal of the eleventhtransistor 41 is electrically connected to the second output terminal27, and a gate electrode of the eleventh transistor 41 is electricallyconnected to the gate electrode of the second transistor 32 and the gateelectrode of the fourth transistor 34. A first terminal of the twelfthtransistor 42 is electrically connected to the power supply line 53, asecond terminal of the twelfth transistor 42 is electrically connectedto the second output terminal 27, and a gate electrode of the twelfthtransistor 42 is electrically connected to the gate electrodes (thefirst gate electrode and the second gate electrode) of the seventhtransistor 37. A first terminal of the thirteenth transistor 43 iselectrically connected to the power supply line 53, a second terminal ofthe thirteenth transistor 43 is electrically connected to the firstoutput terminal 26, and a gate electrode of the thirteenth transistor 43is electrically connected to the gate electrodes (the first gateelectrode and the second gate electrode) of the seventh transistor 37.

In FIG. 16C, a portion where the gate electrode of the third transistor33, the gate electrode of the tenth transistor 40, and the secondterminal of the ninth transistor 39 are connected is referred to as anode A. Moreover, a portion where the gate electrode of the secondtransistor 32, the gate electrode of the fourth transistor 34, thesecond terminal of the fifth transistor 35, the second terminal of thesixth transistor 36, the first terminal of the eighth transistor 38, andthe gate electrode of the eleventh transistor 41 are connected isreferred to as a node B.

FIG. 17A illustrates signals that are input to or output from the firstto fifth input terminals 21 to 25 and the first and second outputterminals 26 and 27 in the case where the pulse output circuitillustrated in FIG. 16C is applied to the first pulse output circuit10_1.

Specifically, the first clock signal CK1 is input to the first inputterminal 21; the second clock signal CK2 is input to the second inputterminal 22; the third clock signal CK3 is input to the third inputterminal 23; the start pulse is input to the fourth input terminal 24;the subsequent-stage signal OUT(3) is input to the fifth input terminal25; the first output signal OUT(1)(SR) is output from the first outputterminal 26; and the second output signal OUT(1) is output from thesecond output terminal 27.

Note that in FIG. 16C and FIG. 17A, a capacitor for performing bootstrapoperation by placing the node A into a floating state may beadditionally provided. Furthermore, a capacitor having one electrodeelectrically connected to the node B may be additionally provided inorder to hold a potential of the node B.

FIG. 17B illustrates a timing chart of a shift register including aplurality of pulse output circuits illustrated in FIG. 17A. Note thatwhen the shift register is included in a scan line driver circuit, aperiod 61 in FIG. 17B corresponds to a vertical retrace period and aperiod 62 corresponds to a gate selection period.

Note that the placement of the ninth transistor 39 in which the secondpower supply potential VCC is applied to the gate as illustrated in FIG.17A has the following advantages before and after bootstrap operation.

Without the ninth transistor 39 in which the second potential VCC isapplied to the gate electrode, if a potential of the node A is raised bybootstrap operation, a potential of the source which is the secondterminal of the first transistor 31 rises to a value higher than thefirst power supply potential VDD. Then, the source of the firsttransistor 31 is switched to the first terminal side, that is, on thepower supply line 51 side. Consequently, in the first transistor 31, ahigh bias voltage is applied and thus significant stress is appliedbetween the gate and the source and between the gate and the drain,which might cause deterioration of the transistor. Therefore, with theninth transistor 39 in which the second power supply potential VCC isapplied to the gate electrode, an increase in potential of the secondterminal of the first transistor 31 can be prevented while the potentialof the node A is raised by bootstrap operation. In other words, theplacement of the ninth transistor 39 can lower the value of a negativebias voltage applied between the gate and the source of the firsttransistor 31. Thus, the circuit configuration in this embodiment canreduce a negative bias voltage applied between the gate and the sourceof the first transistor 31, so that deterioration of the firsttransistor 31 due to stress can be suppressed.

Note that the ninth transistor 39 can be provided anywhere as long asthe first terminal and the second terminal of the ninth transistor 39are connected to the second terminal of the first transistor 31 and thegate of the third transistor 33 respectively. Note that in the case ofthe shift register including a plurality of pulse output circuits inthis embodiment, in a signal line driver circuit having a larger numberof stages than a scan line driver circuit, the ninth transistor 39 canbe omitted, and thus, the number of transistors can be reduced.

Note that an oxide semiconductor is used for semiconductor layers of thefirst to thirteenth transistors 31 to 43, whereby the off-state currentof the thin film transistors can be reduced, the on-state current andthe field-effect mobility can be increased, and the degree ofdeterioration of the transistors can be reduced. Thus, a malfunction inthe circuit can be reduced. Moreover, the degree of deterioration of thetransistor using an oxide semiconductor by application of a highpotential to a gate electrode is smaller than that of a transistor usingamorphous silicon. Consequently, similar operation can be obtained evenwhen the first power supply potential VDD is supplied to the powersupply line to which the second power supply potential VCC is supplied,and the number of power supply lines placed between circuits can bereduced; thus, the size of the circuit can be reduced.

Note that a similar effect is obtained even when the connection relationis changed so that a clock signal that is supplied to the gateelectrodes (the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode) ofthe seventh transistor 37 from the third input terminal 23 and a clocksignal that is supplied to the gate electrodes (the first gate electrodeand the second gate electrode) of the eighth transistor 38 from thesecond input terminal 22 are supplied from the second input terminal 22and the third input terminal 23, respectively. In the shift registerillustrated in FIG. 17A, a state of the seventh transistor 37 and theeighth transistor 38 is changed so that both the seventh transistor 37and the eighth transistor 38 are on, then the seventh transistor 37 isoff and the eighth transistor 38 is on, and then the seventh transistor37 and the eighth transistor 38 are off; thus, the fall in potential ofthe node B due to fall in potentials of the second input terminal 22 andthe third input terminal 23 is caused twice by fall in potential of thegate electrode of the seventh transistor 37 and fall in potential of thegate electrode of the eighth transistor 38. On the other hand, in FIG.17A, when a state of the seventh transistor 37 and the eighth transistor38 is changed in the shift register so that both the seventh transistor37 and the eighth transistor 38 are on, then the seventh transistor 37is on and the eighth transistor 38 is off, and then the seventhtransistor 37 and the eighth transistor 38 are off, the fall inpotential of the node B due to fall in potentials of the second inputterminal 22 and the third input terminal 23 is reduced to one time,which is caused by fall in potential of the gate electrode of the eighthtransistor 38. Therefore, the connection relation, in which the clocksignal CK3 is supplied from the third input terminal 23 to the gateelectrode of the seventh transistor 37 and the clock signal CK2 issupplied from the second input terminal 22 to the gate electrode of theeighth transistor 38, is preferable. That is because the number of timesof the change in the potential of the node B can be reduced, whereby thenoise can be decreased.

In such a manner, an H-level signal is regularly supplied to the node Bin a period during which the potentials of the first output terminal 26and the second output terminal 27 are held at L level; thus, amalfunction of the pulse output circuit can be suppressed.

Embodiment 10

Thin film transistors are manufactured, and a semiconductor devicehaving a display function (also referred to as a display device) can bemanufactured using the thin film transistors in a pixel portion and alsoin a driver circuit. Moreover, part of the driver circuit or the entiredriver circuit, which includes a thin film transistor, can be formedover a substrate where a pixel portion is formed, whereby asystem-on-panel can be obtained.

The display device includes a display element. As the display element, aliquid crystal element (also referred to as a liquid crystal displayelement) or a light-emitting element (also referred to as alight-emitting display element) can be used. The light-emitting elementincludes an element whose luminance is controlled by current or voltagein its category, and specifically includes an inorganicelectroluminescent (EL) element, an organic EL element, and the like.Furthermore, a display medium whose contrast is changed by an electriceffect, such as electronic ink, can be used.

In addition, the display device includes a panel in which the displayelement is sealed, and a module in which an IC or the like including acontroller is mounted on the panel. Furthermore, an element substrate,which corresponds to one embodiment before the display element iscompleted in a manufacturing process of the display device, is providedwith a means for supplying current to the display element in each of aplurality of pixels. Specifically, the element substrate may be in astate in which only a pixel electrode (also referred to as a pixelelectrode layer) of the display element is formed, a state afterformation of a conductive film to be a pixel electrode and beforeetching of the conductive film to form the pixel electrode, or any otherstates.

Note that a display device in this specification refers to an imagedisplay device, a display device, or a light source (including alighting device). Further, the display device includes the followingmodules in its category: a module including a connector such as aflexible printed circuit (FPC), a tape automated bonding (TAB) tape, ora tape carrier package (TCP); a module having a TAB tape or a TCP thatis provided with a printed wiring board at the end thereof; and a modulehaving an integrated circuit (IC) that is directly mounted on a displayelement by a chip on glass (COG) method.

The appearance and a cross section of a liquid crystal display panel,which is one embodiment of a semiconductor device, will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 10A1, 10A2, and 10B. FIGS. 10A1 and 10A2 areplan views of panels in which thin film transistors 4010 and 4011 and aliquid crystal element 4013 are sealed between a first substrate 4001and a second substrate 4006 with a sealant 4005. FIG. 10B is across-sectional view along M-N in FIGS. 10A1 and 10A2.

The sealant 4005 is provided so as to surround a pixel portion 4002 anda scan line driver circuit 4004 which are provided over the firstsubstrate 4001. The second substrate 4006 is provided over the pixelportion 4002 and the scan line driver circuit 4004. Consequently, thepixel portion 4002 and the scan line driver circuit 4004 are sealedtogether with a liquid crystal layer 4008, by the first substrate 4001,the sealant 4005, and the second substrate 4006. A signal line drivercircuit 4003 that is formed using a single crystal semiconductor film ora polycrystalline semiconductor film over a substrate separatelyprepared is mounted in a region that is different from the regionsurrounded by the sealant 4005 over the first substrate 4001.

Note that there is no particular limitation on the connection method ofthe driver circuit which is separately formed, and a COG method, a wirebonding method, a TAB method, or the like can be used. FIG. 10A1illustrates an example in which the signal line driver circuit 4003 ismounted by a COG method. FIG. 10A2 illustrates an example in which thesignal line driver circuit 4003 is mounted by a TAB method.

The pixel portion 4002 and the scan line driver circuit 4004 providedover the first substrate 4001 each include a plurality of thin filmtransistors. FIG. 10B illustrates a thin film transistor 4010 includedin the pixel portion 4002 and a thin film transistor 4011 included inthe scan line driver circuit 4004, as an example. An oxide insulatinglayer 4041, a protective insulating layer 4020, and an insulating layer4021 are provided in order over the thin film transistors 4010 and 4011.

Any of the highly reliable thin film transistors including the oxidesemiconductor layers which are described in Embodiments 1 to 5 can beused as the thin film transistors 4010 and 4011. Any of the thin filmtransistors 410, 449, 460 and 492 described in Embodiments 1 to 5 can beused as the thin film transistor 4011 for the driver circuit. Any of thethin film transistors 420, 451, 470, and 493 can be used as the thinfilm transistor 4010 for the pixel. In this embodiment, the thin filmtransistors 4010 and 4011 are n-channel thin film transistors.

A conductive layer 4040 is provided over part of the insulating layer4021, which overlaps with a channel formation region of an oxidesemiconductor layer in the thin film transistor 4011 for the drivercircuit. The conductive layer 4040 is provided at the positionoverlapping with the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductorlayer, whereby the amount of change in threshold voltage of the thinfilm transistor 4011 before and after the BT test can be reduced. Apotential of the conductive layer 4040 may be the same as or differentfrom that of a gate electrode layer of the thin film transistor 4011.The conductive layer 4040 can also function as a second gate electrodelayer. Alternatively, the potential of the conductive layer 4040 may beGND or 0 V, or the conductive layer 4040 may be placed in a floatingstate.

A pixel electrode layer 4030 included in the liquid crystal element 4013is electrically connected to the thin film transistor 4010. A counterelectrode layer 4031 of the liquid crystal element 4013 is formed on thesecond substrate 4006. A portion where the pixel electrode layer 4030,the counter electrode layer 4031, and the liquid crystal layer 4008overlap with each other corresponds to the liquid crystal element 4013.Note that the pixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer4031 are provided with an insulating layer 4032 and an insulating layer4033 functioning as alignment films, respectively, and the liquidcrystal layer 4008 is sandwiched between the pixel electrode layer 4030and the counter electrode layer 4031 with the insulating layers 4032 and4033 therebetween.

Note that a light-transmitting substrate can be used as the firstsubstrate 4001 and the second substrate 4006; glass, ceramics, orplastics can be used. As plastics, a fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP)plate, a polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) film, a polyester film, or an acrylicresin film can be used.

A spacer 4035 is a columnar spacer obtained by selective etching of aninsulating film and provided in order to control the distance (a cellgap) between the pixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrodelayer 4031. Alternatively, a spherical spacer may be used. The counterelectrode layer 4031 is electrically connected to a common potentialline formed over the substrate where the thin film transistor 4010 isformed. The counter electrode layer 4031 and the common potential linecan be electrically connected to each other through conductive particlesarranged between a pair of substrates using a common connection portion.Note that the conductive particles are included in the sealant 4005.

Alternatively, liquid crystal exhibiting a blue phase for which analignment film is unnecessary may be used. A blue phase is one of liquidcrystal phases, which is generated just before a cholesteric phasechanges into an isotropic phase while the temperature of cholestericliquid crystal is increased. Since the blue phase is only generatedwithin a narrow range of the temperature, a liquid crystal compositioncontaining a chiral agent at greater than or equal to 5 wt % is used forthe liquid crystal layer 4008 in order to widen the temperature range.The liquid crystal composition including liquid crystal exhibiting ablue phase and a chiral agent has a short response time of less than orequal to 1 msec and is optically isotropic; therefore, alignmenttreatment is not necessary and viewing angle dependence is small.

In addition, the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment may bea transmissive liquid crystal display device or a semi-transmissiveliquid crystal display device.

In the example of the liquid crystal display device according to thisembodiment, a polarizing plate is provided on the outer surface of thesubstrate (on the viewer side) and a coloring layer (a color filter) andan electrode layer used for a display element are sequentially providedon the inner surface of the substrate; alternatively, the polarizingplate may be provided on the inner surface of the substrate. The layeredstructure of the polarizing plate and the coloring layer is not limitedto that in this embodiment and may be set as appropriate depending onmaterials of the polarizing plate and the coloring layer or conditionsof the manufacturing process.

The protective insulating layer 4020 can be formed using a material anda method similar to those of the protective insulating layer 403described in Embodiment 1, for example. In this embodiment, a siliconnitride film is formed as the protective insulating layer 4020 by a PCVDmethod.

The insulating layer 4021 can be formed using a material and a methodsimilar to those of the planarization insulating layer 404 described inEmbodiment 1, and a heat-resistance organic material such as polyimide,acrylic, benzocyclobutene, polyamide, or epoxy can be used for theinsulating layer 4021. Other than such organic materials, it is alsopossible to use a low-dielectric constant material (a low-k material), asiloxane-based resin, PSG (phosphosilicate glass), BPSG(borophosphosilicate glass), or the like for the insulating layer 4021.Note that the insulating layer 4021 may be formed by stacking aplurality of insulating films formed from these materials.

Note that a siloxane-based resin corresponds to a resin including aSi—O—Si bond formed using a siloxane-based material as a startingmaterial. The siloxane-based resin may include an organic group (e.g.,an alkyl group or an aryl group) or a fluoro group as a substituent.Moreover, the organic group may include a fluoro group.

There is no particular limitation on the method of forming theinsulating layer 4021, and the following method or means can be employeddepending on the material, by a method such as a sputtering method, anSOG method, a spin coating method, a dipping method, a spray coatingmethod, or a droplet discharge method (e.g., an ink-jet method, screenprinting, or offset printing), or a tool such as a doctor knife, a rollcoater, a curtain coater, a knife coater, or the like. A baking step ofthe insulating layer 4021 also serves as annealing of the semiconductorlayer, whereby a semiconductor device can be efficiently manufactured.

The pixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer 4031 canbe formed from a light-transmitting conductive material such as indiumoxide containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungstenoxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxidecontaining titanium oxide, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide, orindium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added.

Alternatively, a conductive composition including a conductive highmolecule (also referred to as a conductive polymer) can be used for thepixel electrode layer 4030 and the counter electrode layer 4031. Thepixel electrode formed using the conductive composition preferably has asheet resistance of less than or equal to 10000 ohms per square and alight transmittance of greater than or equal to 70% at a wavelength of550 nm. Further, the resistivity of the conductive high moleculecontained in the conductive composition is preferably less than or equalto 0.1 Ω·cm.

As the conductive high molecule, a so-called π-electron conjugatedconductive polymer can be used. Examples thereof are polyaniline or aderivative thereof, polypyrrole or a derivative thereof, polythiopheneor a derivative thereof, and a copolymer of two or more kinds of thesematerials.

Further, a variety of signals and potentials are supplied to the signalline driver circuit 4003 which is separately formed, the scan linedriver circuit 4004, or the pixel portion 4002 from an FPC 4018.

A connection terminal electrode 4015 is formed using the same conductivefilm as that for the pixel electrode layer 4030 included in the liquidcrystal element 4013. A terminal electrode 4016 a is formed using thesame conductive film as a low-resistance drain region of the thin filmtransistor 4011, while a terminal electrode 4016 b is formed using thesame conductive film as a source electrode layer and a drain electrodelayer of the thin film transistor 4011.

The connection terminal electrode 4015 is electrically connected to aterminal included in the FPC 4018 through an anisotropic conductive film4019.

Note that FIGS. 10A1, 10A2, and 10B illustrate the example in which thesignal line driver circuit 4003 is formed separately and mounted on thefirst substrate 4001; however, this embodiment is not limited to thisstructure. The scan line driver circuit may be separately formed andthen mounted, or only part of the signal line driver circuit or part ofthe scan line driver circuit may be separately formed and then mounted.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a liquid crystal display module whichis formed as a semiconductor device by using a TFT substrate 2600manufactured according to the manufacturing method disclosed in thisspecification.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the liquid crystal display module, in whichthe TFT substrate 2600 and a counter substrate 2601 are fixed to eachother with a sealant 2602, and a pixel portion 2603 including a TFT andthe like, a display element 2604 including a liquid crystal layer, and acoloring layer 2605 are provided between the substrates to form adisplay region. The coloring layer 2605 is necessary to perform colordisplay. In the RGB system, coloring layers corresponding to colors ofred, green, and blue are provided for pixels. Polarizing plates 2606 and2607 and a diffusion plate 2613 are provided outside the TFT substrate2600 and the counter substrate 2601. A light source includes a coldcathode tube 2610 and a reflective plate 2611. A circuit board 2612 isconnected to a wiring circuit portion 2608 of the TFT substrate 2600 bya flexible wiring board 2609 and includes an external circuit such as acontrol circuit or a power source circuit. The polarizing plate and theliquid crystal layer may be stacked with a retardation platetherebetween.

For the liquid crystal display module, a twisted nematic (TN) mode, anin-plane-switching (IPS) mode, a fringe field switching (FFS) mode, amulti-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode, a patterned verticalalignment (PVA) mode, an axially symmetric aligned micro-cell (ASM)mode, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) mode, a ferroelectricliquid crystal (FLC) mode, an antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC)mode, or the like can be used.

Through the above steps, a highly reliable liquid crystal display panelcan be manufactured as a semiconductor device.

Embodiment 11

An example of an electronic paper will be described as one embodiment ofa semiconductor device.

A semiconductor device can be used for an electronic paper in whichelectronic ink is driven by an element electrically connected to aswitching element. The electronic paper is also referred to as anelectrophoretic display device (an electrophoretic display) and hasadvantages in that it has the same level of readability as regularpaper, it has lower power consumption than other display devices, and itcan be made thin and lightweight.

Electrophoretic displays can have various modes. An electrophoreticdisplay contains a plurality of microcapsules dispersed in a solvent ora solute, each of which contains first particles that are positivelycharged and second particles that are negatively charged. By applying anelectric field to the microcapsules, the particles in the microcapsulesmove in opposite directions to each other and only the color of theparticles gathering on one side is displayed. Note that the firstparticles and the second particles contain a pigment and do not movewithout an electric field. Moreover, the first particles and the secondparticles have different colors (which may be colorless).

In this way, an electrophoretic display utilizes a so-calleddielectrophoretic effect by which a substance having a high dielectricconstant moves to a high-electric field region. An electrophoreticdisplay does not need to use a polarizing plate and a counter substratewhich are necessary in a liquid crystal display device, and both thethickness and weight of the electrophoretic display device are reduced.

A solution in which the above-described microcapsules are dispersed in asolvent is referred to as electronic ink. This electronic ink can beprinted on a surface of glass, plastic, cloth, paper, or the like.Furthermore, color display can be achieved with a color filter orparticles including a pigment.

When a plurality of the above-described microcapsules are arranged asappropriate over an active matrix substrate so as to be sandwichedbetween two electrodes, an active matrix display device can becompleted, and display can be performed by application of an electricfield to the microcapsules. For example, the active matrix substratewith the use of any of the thin film transistors in Embodiments 1 to 5can be used.

Note that the first particles and the second particles in themicrocapsules may be formed from one of a conductive material, aninsulating material, a semiconductor material, a magnetic material, aliquid crystal material, a ferroelectric material, an electroluminescentmaterial, an electrochromic material, and a magnetophoretic material ora composite material of any of these materials.

FIG. 18 illustrates an active matrix electronic paper as an example of asemiconductor device. A thin film transistor 581 can be formed in amanner similar to the thin film transistor described in Embodiment 1 andis a highly reliable thin film transistor including an oxidesemiconductor layer. Moreover, any of the thin film transistorsdescribed in Embodiments 2 to 5 can also be used as the thin filmtransistor 581.

The electronic paper in FIG. 18 is an example using a twisting balldisplay system. The twisting ball display system refers to a method inwhich spherical particles each colored in black and white are arrangedbetween a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer which areelectrode layers used for a display element, and a potential differenceis generated between the first electrode layer and the second electrodelayer to control orientation of the spherical particles, so that displayis performed.

The thin film transistor 581 formed over a substrate 580 is a bottomgate thin film transistor and covered with an insulating film 583 incontact with a semiconductor layer and an insulating layer 584. A sourceelectrode layer or a drain electrode layer of the thin film transistor581 is in contact with and electrically connected to a first electrodelayer 587 at an opening formed in the insulating film 583, theinsulating layer 584, and an insulating layer 585. Spherical particles589 are provided between the first electrode layer 587 and a secondelectrode layer 588 formed on a second substrate 596. Each of thespherical particles 589 includes a black region 590 a, a white region590 b, and a cavity 594 filled with liquid around the black region 590 aand the white region 590 b. A space around the spherical particles 589is filled with a filler 595 such as a resin. The first electrode layer587 corresponds to a pixel electrode, and the second electrode layer 588corresponds to a common electrode. The second electrode layer 588 iselectrically connected to a common potential line provided over thesubstrate where the thin film transistor 581 is formed. With the use ofa common connection portion, the second electrode layer 588 and thecommon potential line can be electrically connected to each otherthrough conductive particles provided between a pair of substrates.

Alternatively, it is possible to use an electrophoretic element insteadof the twisting ball. A microcapsule having a diameter of approximately10 μm to 200 μm, in which transparent liquid, positively charged whitemicroparticles, and negatively charged black microparticles areencapsulated, is used. In the microcapsule provided between a firstelectrode layer and a second electrode layer, when an electric field isapplied by the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, thewhite microparticles and the black microparticles move in oppositedirections, so that white or black can be displayed. A display elementusing this principle is an electrophoretic display element and is calledan electronic paper in general. The electrophoretic display element hashigher reflectance than a liquid crystal display element; thus, anauxiliary light is unnecessary, power consumption is low, and a displayportion can be recognized also in a dim place. In addition, even whenpower is not supplied to the display portion, an image which has beendisplayed once can be maintained. Consequently, a displayed image can bestored even when a semiconductor device having a display function (whichmay be referred to simply as a display device or a semiconductor deviceprovided with a display device) is kept away from an electric wavesource.

Through the above steps, a highly reliable electronic paper can bemanufactured as a semiconductor device.

Embodiment 12

An example of a light-emitting display device will be described as asemiconductor device. As a display element included in a display device,a light-emitting element utilizing electroluminescence is describedhere. Light-emitting elements utilizing electroluminescence areclassified according to whether a light-emitting material is an organiccompound or an inorganic compound. In general, the former is referred toas an organic EL element, and the latter is referred to as an inorganicEL element.

In an organic EL element, by application of voltage to thelight-emitting element, electrons and holes are separately injected froma pair of electrodes into a layer containing a light-emitting organiccompound, and current flows. Carriers (electrons and holes) arerecombined, and thus, the light-emitting organic compound is excited.The light-emitting organic compound returns to a ground state from theexcited state, thereby emitting light. Owing to such a mechanism, thislight-emitting element is referred to as a current-excitationlight-emitting element.

Inorganic EL elements are classified according to their elementstructures into a dispersion-type inorganic EL element and a thin-filminorganic EL element. A dispersion-type inorganic EL element includes alight-emitting layer where particles of a light-emitting material aredispersed in a binder, and its light emission mechanism isdonor-acceptor recombination type light emission that utilizes a donorlevel and an acceptor level. A thin-film inorganic EL element has astructure where a light-emitting layer is sandwiched between dielectriclayers, which are further sandwiched between electrodes, and its lightemission mechanism is localized type light emission that utilizesinner-shell electron transition of metal ions. Note that here, anorganic EL element is described as a light-emitting element.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a pixel structure to which digitaltime grayscale driving can be applied, as an example of a semiconductordevice.

A structure and operation of a pixel to which digital time grayscaledriving can be applied are described. Here, one pixel includes twon-channel transistors each of which includes an oxide semiconductorlayer as a channel formation region.

A pixel 6400 includes a switching transistor 6401, a driving transistor6402, a light-emitting element 6404, and a capacitor 6403. A gateelectrode of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a scan line6406. A first electrode (one of a source electrode and a drainelectrode) of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a signalline 6405. A second electrode (the other of the source electrode and thedrain electrode) of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a gateelectrode of the driving transistor 6402. The gate electrode of thedriving transistor 6402 is connected to a power supply line 6407 throughthe capacitor 6403. A first electrode of the driving transistor 6402 isconnected to the power supply line 6407. A second electrode of thedriving transistor 6402 is connected to a first electrode (a pixelelectrode) of the light-emitting element 6404. A second electrode of thelight-emitting element 6404 corresponds to a common electrode 6408. Thecommon electrode 6408 is electrically connected to a common potentialline provided over the same substrate.

The second electrode (the common electrode 6408) of the light-emittingelement 6404 is set to a low power supply potential. Note that the lowpower supply potential is lower than a high power supply potential thatis set for the power supply line 6407. For example, GND or 0 V may begiven as the low power supply potential. A potential difference betweenthe high power supply potential and the low power supply potential isapplied to the light-emitting element 6404 so that current flows throughthe light-emitting element 6404, whereby the light-emitting element 6404emits light. In order to make the light-emitting element 6404 emitlight, each potential is set so that the potential difference betweenthe high power supply potential and the low power supply potential isgreater than or equal to the forward threshold voltage of thelight-emitting element 6404.

Note that gate capacitance of the driving transistor 6402 may be used asa substitute for the capacitor 6403, so that the capacitor 6403 can beomitted. The gate capacitance of the driving transistor 6402 may beformed between a channel region and the gate electrode.

In the case of employing a voltage-input voltage-driving method, a videosignal is input to the gate electrode of the driving transistor 6402 sothat the driving transistor 6402 is in either of two states; beingsufficiently turned on or turned off. That is, the driving transistor6402 is operated in a linear region. Since the driving transistor 6402operates in the linear region, a voltage higher than the voltage of thepower supply line 6407 is applied to the gate electrode of the drivingtransistor 6402. Note that a voltage greater than or equal to the sum ofthe power supply line+Vth of the driving transistor 6402 is applied tothe signal line 6405.

In the case of employing analog grayscale driving instead of the digitaltime grayscale driving, the same pixel structure as in FIG. 12 can beemployed by changing signal input.

In the case of performing analog grayscale driving, a voltage greaterthan or equal to the sum of the forward voltage of the light-emittingelement 6404 and Vth of the driving transistor 6402 is applied to thegate electrode of the driving transistor 6402. The forward voltage ofthe light-emitting element 6404 indicates a voltage at which a desiredluminance is obtained, and includes at least a forward thresholdvoltage. The video signal by which the driving transistor 6402 operatesin a saturation region is input, so that current can be supplied to thelight-emitting element 6404. In order to operate the driving transistor6402 in the saturation region, the potential of the power supply line6407 is set higher than the gate potential of the driving transistor6402. When an analog video signal is used, a current corresponding tothe video signal can be supplied to the light-emitting element 6404, sothat analog grayscale driving can be performed.

Note that the pixel structure illustrated in FIG. 12 is not limited tothe above. For example, a switch, a resistor, a capacitor, a transistor,a logic circuit, or the like may be added to the pixel illustrated inFIG. 12.

Next, a structure of a light-emitting element will be described withreference to FIGS. 13A to 13C. Here, a cross-sectional structure of apixel will be described using an n-channel driving TFT as an example.TFTs 7001, 7011, and 7021 serving as driving TFTs used in semiconductordevices illustrated in FIGS. 13A, 13B, and 13C can be formed in a mannersimilar to that of the thin film transistor arranged in the pixel whichis described in Embodiment 1 and are highly reliable thin filmtransistors each including an oxide semiconductor layer. Alternatively,the thin film transistor arranged in the pixel described in any ofEmbodiments 2 to 5 can be employed as the TFTs 7001, 7011, and 7021.

A thin film transistor and a light-emitting element are formed over asubstrate. In order to extract light emitted from the light-emittingelement, at least one of an anode and a cathode needs to be transparent.The light-emitting element can have a top emission structure in whichlight is extracted through the surface opposite to the substrate; abottom emission structure in which light is extracted through thesurface on the substrate side; or a dual emission structure in whichlight is extracted through the surface opposite to the substrate and thesurface on the substrate side. The pixel structure illustrated in FIG.12 can be applied to a light-emitting element having any of theseemission structures.

A light-emitting element having the top emission structure is describedwith reference to FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view of a pixel in the case where the TFT7001 serving as the driving TFT is an n-channel TFT and light emittedfrom a light-emitting element 7002 passes through an anode 7005. In FIG.13A, a cathode 7003 of the light-emitting element 7002 is electricallyconnected to the TFT 7001 serving as the driving TFT, and alight-emitting layer 7004 and the anode 7005 are stacked in this orderover the cathode 7003. The cathode 7003 can be formed using a variety ofconductive materials as long as they have a low work function andreflect light. For example, Ca, Al, MgAg, AlLi, or the like ispreferably used. The light-emitting layer 7004 may be formed using asingle layer or a plurality of layers stacked. When the light-emittinglayer 7004 is formed using a plurality of layers, the light-emittinglayer 7004 is formed by stacking an electron injection layer, anelectron transport layer, a light-emitting layer, a hole transportlayer, and a hole injection layer in this order over the cathode 7003.Note that it is not necessary to form all of these layers. The anode7005 is formed using a light-transmitting conductive film, for example,a film of indium oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxidecontaining tungsten oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide,indium tin oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide (ITO),indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added.

Moreover, a bank 7009 is provided between the cathode 7003 and a cathode7008 in an adjacent pixel so as to cover edges of the cathodes 7003 and7008. The bank 7009 is formed using an organic resin film of polyimide,acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or the like; an inorganic insulating film; ororganic polysiloxane. It is particularly preferable that the bank 7009be formed using a photosensitive resin material so that its side surfaceis an inclined surface with continuous curvature. When a photosensitiveresin material is used for the bank 7009, a step of forming a resistmask can be omitted.

The light-emitting element 7002 corresponds to a region where thelight-emitting layer 7004 is sandwiched between the cathode 7003 and theanode 7005. In the pixel illustrated in FIG. 13A, light is emitted fromthe light-emitting element 7002 to the anode 7005 side as indicated byarrows.

Next, a light-emitting element having the bottom emission structure isdescribed with reference to FIG. 13B. FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional viewof a pixel in the case where the driving TFT 7011 is an n-channel TFTand light is emitted from a light-emitting element 7012 to a cathode7013 side. In FIG. 13B, the cathode 7013 of the light-emitting element7012 is formed over a light-transmitting conductive film 7017 that iselectrically connected to the driving TFT 7011, and a light-emittinglayer 7014 and an anode 7015 are stacked in this order over the cathode7013. Note that a light-blocking film 7016 for reflecting or blockinglight may be formed so as to cover the anode 7015 when the anode 7015has a light-transmitting property. The cathode 7013 can be formed usinga variety of conductive materials as in the case of FIG. 13A as long asthey have a low work function. Note that the cathode 7013 is formed to athickness that can transmit light (preferably approximately 5 nm to 30nm). For example, a 20-nm-thick aluminum film can be used as the cathode7013. As in the case of FIG. 13A, the light-emitting layer 7014 may beformed using a single layer or a plurality of layers stacked. The anode7015 is not necessary to transmit light, but can be formed using alight-transmitting conductive material as in the case of FIG. 13A. Forthe light-blocking film 7016, a metal or the like that reflects lightcan be used, for example; however, the light-blocking film 7016 is notlimited to a metal film. For example, a resin or the like to which ablack pigment is added can be used.

Moreover, a bank 7019 is provided between the conductive film 7017 and aconductive film 7018 in an adjacent pixel so as to cover edges of theconductive films 7017 and 7018. The bank 7019 can be formed using anorganic resin film of polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or the like;an inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It isparticularly preferable that the bank 7019 be formed using aphotosensitive resin material so that its side surface is an inclinedsurface with continuous curvature. When a photosensitive resin materialis used for the bank 7019, a step of forming a resist mask can beomitted.

The light-emitting element 7012 corresponds to a region where thelight-emitting layer 7014 is sandwiched between the cathode 7013 and theanode 7015. In the pixel illustrated in FIG. 13B, light is emitted fromthe light-emitting element 7012 to the cathode 7013 side as indicated byarrows.

Next, a light-emitting element having the dual emission structure isdescribed with reference to FIG. 13C. In FIG. 13C, a cathode 7023 of alight-emitting element 7022 is formed over a light-transmittingconductive film 7027 that is electrically connected to the driving TFT7021, and a light-emitting layer 7024 and an anode 7025 are sequentiallystacked over the cathode 7023. As in the case of FIG. 13A, the cathode7023 can be formed using any of a variety of materials as long as it isa conductive material having a low work function. Note that the cathode7023 is formed to a thickness that can transmit light. For example, a20-nm-thick film of Al can be used as the cathode 7023. As in the caseof FIG. 13A, the light-emitting layer 7024 may be formed using a singlelayer or a plurality of layers stacked. The anode 7025 can be formedusing a light-transmitting conductive material as in the case of FIG.13A.

Moreover, a bank 7029 is provided between the conductive film 7027 and aconductive film 7028 in an adjacent pixel so as to cover edges of theconductive films 7027 and 7028. The bank 7029 can be formed using anorganic resin film of polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, epoxy, or the like;an inorganic insulating film; or organic polysiloxane. It isparticularly preferable that the bank 7029 be formed using aphotosensitive resin material so that its side surface is an inclinedsurface with continuous curvature. When a photosensitive resin materialis used for the bank 7029, a step of forming a resist mask can beomitted.

The light-emitting element 7022 corresponds to a portion where thecathode 7023, the light-emitting layer 7024, and the anode 7025 overlapwith each other. In the pixel illustrated in FIG. 13C, light is emittedfrom the light-emitting element 7022 to both the anode 7025 side and thecathode 7023 side as indicated by arrows.

Note that although the organic EL elements are described here as thelight-emitting elements, an inorganic EL element can also be provided asa light-emitting element.

Note that the example is described in which the thin film transistor(the driving TFT) which controls the driving of the light-emittingelement is electrically connected to the light-emitting element;alternatively, a structure may be employed in which a TFT for currentcontrol is connected between the driving TFT and the light-emittingelement.

Note that the structure of the semiconductor device is not limited tothose illustrated in FIGS. 13A to 13C and can be modified in variousways based on techniques disclosed in this specification.

Next, the appearance and a cross section of a light-emitting displaypanel (also referred to as a light-emitting panel) which is oneembodiment of a semiconductor device will be described with reference toFIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG. 11A is a plan view of a panel in which a thinfilm transistor and a light-emitting element that are formed over afirst substrate are sealed between the first substrate and a secondsubstrate with a sealant. FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view along H-Iin FIG. 11A.

A sealant 4505 is provided so as to surround a pixel portion 4502,signal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503 b, and scan line drivercircuits 4504 a and 4504 b which are provided over a first substrate4501. Moreover, a second substrate 4506 is provided over the pixelportion 4502, the signal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503 b, and thescan line driver circuits 4504 a and 4504 b. Consequently, the pixelportion 4502, the signal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503 b, and thescan line driver circuits 4504 a and 4504 b are sealed together with afiller 4507 by the first substrate 4501, the sealant 4505, and thesecond substrate 4506. In this manner, a panel is preferably packaged(sealed) with a protective film (such as a laminate film or anultraviolet curable resin film) or a cover material with highair-tightness and little degasification so that the panel is not exposedto the outside air.

The pixel portion 4502, the signal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503b, and the scan line driver circuits 4504 a and 4504 b, which are formedover the first substrate 4501, each include a plurality of thin filmtransistors. A thin film transistor 4510 included in the pixel portion4502 and a thin film transistor 4509 included in the signal line drivercircuit 4503 a are illustrated as an example in FIG. 11B.

Any of the highly reliable thin film transistors including the oxidesemiconductor layers described in Embodiments 1 to 5 can be used as thethin film transistors 4509 and 4510. Any of the thin film transistors410, 460, 449, and 492 described in Embodiments 1 to 5 can be used asthe thin film transistor 4509 for the driver circuit. Any of the thinfilm transistors 420, 451, 470, and 493 can be used as the thin filmtransistor 4510 for the pixel. In this embodiment, the thin filmtransistors 4509 and 4510 are n-channel thin film transistors.

A conductive layer 4540 is provided over part of an insulating layer4544, which overlaps with a channel formation region of an oxidesemiconductor layer in the thin film transistor 4509 for the drivercircuit. The conductive layer 4540 is provided at the positionoverlapping with the channel formation region of the oxide semiconductorlayer, whereby the amount of change in threshold voltage of the thinfilm transistor 4509 before and after the BT test can be reduced. Apotential of the conductive layer 4540 may be the same as or differentfrom that of a gate electrode layer in the thin film transistor 4509.The conductive layer 4540 can also function as a second gate electrodelayer. Alternatively, the potential of the conductive layer 4540 may beGND or 0 V, or the conductive layer 4540 may be placed in a floatingstate.

In the thin film transistor 4509, an oxide insulating layer 4541 isformed in contact with a semiconductor layer including a channelformation region. The oxide insulating layer 4541 can be formed using amaterial and a method similar to those of the oxide insulating layer 416described in Embodiment 1. Moreover, the insulating layer 4544functioning as a planarization insulating film covers the thin filmtransistors in order to reduce surface unevenness of the thin filmtransistors. Here, as the oxide insulating layer 4541, a silicon oxidefilm is formed by a sputtering method according to Embodiment 1.

Furthermore, a protective insulating layer 4543 is formed over the thinfilm transistors 4509 and 4510. The protective insulating layer 4543 canbe formed using a material and a method similar to those of theprotective insulating layer 403 described in Embodiment 1. Here, asilicon nitride film is formed by a PCVD method as the protectiveinsulating layer 4543.

The insulating layer 4544 is formed as the planarization insulatingfilm. The insulating layer 4544 can be formed using a material and amethod similar to those of the planarization insulating layer 404described in Embodiment 1. Here, acrylic is used for the insulatinglayer 4544.

Moreover, a first electrode layer 4517 that is a pixel electrodeincluded in a light-emitting element 4511 is electrically connected to asource electrode layer or a drain electrode layer of the thin filmtransistor 4510. Note that the structure of the light-emitting element4511 is not limited to the layered structure shown in this embodiment,which includes the first electrode layer 4517, an electroluminescentlayer 4512, and a second electrode layer 4513. The structure of thelight-emitting element 4511 can be changed as appropriate depending onthe direction in which light is extracted from the light-emittingelement 4511, or the like.

A bank 4520 is formed using an organic resin film, an inorganicinsulating film, or organic polysiloxane. It is particularly preferablethat the bank 4520 be formed using a photosensitive material and anopening be formed over the first electrode layer 4517 so that a sidewallof the opening is an inclined surface with continuous curvature.

The electroluminescent layer 4512 may be formed with a single layer or aplurality of layers stacked.

A protective film may be formed over the second electrode layer 4513 andthe bank 4520 in order to prevent entry of oxygen, hydrogen, moisture,carbon dioxide, or the like into the light-emitting element 4511. As theprotective film, a silicon nitride film, a silicon nitride oxide film, aDLC film, or the like can be formed.

In addition, a variety of signals and potentials are supplied to thesignal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503 b, the scan line drivercircuits 4504 a and 4504 b, or the pixel portion 4502 from FPCs 4518 aand 4518 b.

A connection terminal electrode 4515 is formed from the same conductivefilm as that for the first electrode layer 4517 included in thelight-emitting element 4511. A terminal electrode 4516 a is formed usingthe same conductive film as that for a low-resistance drain region ofthe thin film transistor 4509, while a terminal electrode 4516 b isformed using the same conductive film as that for a source electrodelayer and a drain electrode layer of the thin film transistor 4509.

The connection terminal electrode 4515 is electrically connected to aterminal included in the FPC 4518 a through an anisotropic conductivefilm 4519.

The substrate positioned in the direction in which light is extractedfrom the light-emitting element 4511 needs to have a light-transmittingproperty. In that case, a light-transmitting material such as a glassplate, a plastic plate, a polyester film, or an acrylic film is used forthe substrate.

As the filler 4507, an ultraviolet curable resin or a thermosettingresin can be used in addition to an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon.For example, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), acrylic, polyimide, an epoxyresin, a silicone resin, PVB (polyvinyl butyral), or EVA (ethylene vinylacetate) can be used. For example, nitrogen is used for the filler.

If needed, an optical film such as a polarizing plate, a circularlypolarizing plate (including an elliptically polarizing plate), aretardation plate (a quarter-wave plate or a half-wave plate), or acolor filter may be provided as appropriate on a light-emitting surfaceof the light-emitting element 4511. Further, a polarizing plate or acircularly polarizing plate may be provided with an anti-reflectionfilm. For example, anti-glare treatment can be performed by whichreflected light can be diffused by projections and depressions on thesurface so as to reduce glare.

Driver circuits formed using a single crystal semiconductor film or apolycrystalline semiconductor film over a substrate separately preparedmay be mounted as the signal line driver circuits 4503 a and 4503 b andthe scan line driver circuits 4504 a and 4504 b. Alternatively, only thesignal line driver circuits or part thereof, or only the scan linedriver circuits or part thereof may be separately formed and mounted.This embodiment is not limited to the structure illustrated in FIGS. 11Aand 11B.

Through the above steps, a highly reliable light-emitting display device(display panel) can be manufactured as a semiconductor device.

Embodiment 13

A semiconductor device disclosed in this specification can be applied toan electronic paper. An electronic paper can be used for electronicdevices in all fields as long as they display data. For example, anelectronic paper can be applied to an e-book reader (an electronicbook), a poster, an advertisement in a vehicle such as a train, ordisplays of a variety of cards such as a credit card. FIG. 20illustrates an example of the electronic device.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of an e-book reader 2700. For example,the e-book reader 2700 includes two housings of a housing 2701 and ahousing 2703. The housing 2701 and the housing 2703 are combined with ahinge 2711 so that the e-book reader 2700 can be opened and closed withthe hinge 2711 as an axis. Such a structure enables the e-book reader2700 to operate like a paper book.

A display portion 2705 and a display portion 2707 are incorporated inthe housing 2701 and the housing 2703, respectively. The display portion2705 and the display portion 2707 may display one image or differentimages. In the case where the display portion 2705 and the displayportion 2707 display different images, for example, a display portion onthe right side (the display portion 2705 in FIG. 20) can display a textimage and a display portion on the left side (the display portion 2707in FIG. 20) can display a different type of image.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example in which the housing 2701 is providedwith an operation portion and the like. For example, the housing 2701 isprovided with a power switch 2721, operation keys 2723, a speaker 2725,and the like. Pages can be turned with the operation keys 2723. Notethat a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like may be provided on thesame surface as the display portion of the housing. In addition, anexternal connection terminal (an earphone terminal, a USB terminal, aterminal connectable to a variety of cables such as an AC adapter and aUSB cable, or the like), a recording medium insertion portion, and thelike may be provided on the back surface or the side surface of thehousing. Moreover, the e-book reader 2700 may have a function of anelectronic dictionary.

The e-book reader 2700 may be configured to wirelessly transmit andreceive data. Through wireless communication, desired book data or thelike can be purchased and downloaded from an electronic book server.

Embodiment 14

A semiconductor device disclosed in this specification can be applied toa variety of electronic devices (including game machines). Examples ofsuch electronic devices are a television set (also referred to as atelevision or a television receiver), a monitor of a computer or thelike, a camera such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, adigital photo frame, a mobile phone handset (also referred to as amobile phone or a mobile phone device), a portable game machine, aportable information terminal, an audio reproducing device, alarge-sized game machine such as a pinball machine, and the like.

FIG. 21A illustrates an example of a television set 9600. In thetelevision set 9600, a display portion 9603 is incorporated in a housing9601. The display portion 9603 can display images. Here, the housing9601 is supported by a stand 9605.

The television set 9600 can be operated with an operation switch of thehousing 9601 or a separate remote controller 9610. Channels can beswitched and volume can be controlled with operation keys 9609 of theremote controller 9610, whereby an image displayed on the displayportion 9603 can be controlled. Moreover, the remote controller 9610 maybe provided with a display portion 9607 for displaying data output fromthe remote controller 9610.

Note that the television set 9600 is provided with a receiver, a modem,and the like. With the use of the receiver, general TV broadcasts can bereceived. Moreover, when the display device is connected to acommunication network with or without wires via the modem, one-way (froma sender to a receiver) or two-way (between a sender and a receiver orbetween receivers) information communication can be performed.

FIG. 21B illustrates an example of a digital photo frame 9700. Forexample, in the digital photo frame 9700, a display portion 9703 isincorporated in a housing 9701. The display portion 9703 can display avariety of images. For example, the display portion 9703 can displaydata of an image taken with a digital camera or the like and function asa normal photo frame.

Note that the digital photo frame 9700 is provided with an operationportion, an external connection terminal (a USB terminal, a terminalconnectable to a variety of cables such as a USB cable, or the like), arecording medium insertion portion, and the like. Although thesecomponents may be provided on the same surface as the display portion,it is preferable to provide them on the side surface or the back surfacefor design aesthetics. For example, a memory storing data of an imagetaken with a digital camera is inserted in the recording mediuminsertion portion of the digital photo frame and the data is loaded,whereby the image of the loaded data can be displayed on the displayportion 9703.

The digital photo frame 9700 may be configured to transmit and receivedata wirelessly. Through wireless communication, desired image data canbe loaded to be displayed.

FIG. 22A is a portable game machine and is constituted by two housingsof a housing 9881 and a housing 9891 which are connected with a jointportion 9893 so that the portable game machine can be opened or folded.A display portion 9882 and a display portion 9883 are incorporated inthe housing 9881 and the housing 9891, respectively. In addition, theportable game machine illustrated in FIG. 22A is provided with a speakerportion 9884, a recording medium insertion portion 9886, an LED lamp9890, input means (operation keys 9885, a connection terminal 9887, asensor 9888 (having a function of measuring force, displacement,position, speed, acceleration, angular velocity, rotation number,distance, light, liquid, magnetism, temperature, chemical substance,sound, time, hardness, electric field, current, voltage, electric power,radial ray, flow rate, humidity, gradient, vibration, smell, or infraredray), and a microphone 9889), and the like. Needless to say, thestructure of the portable game machine is not limited to the above andother structures provided with at least the semiconductor devicedisclosed in this specification can be employed. The portable gamemachine may include other accessory equipment as appropriate. Theportable game machine illustrated in FIG. 22A has a function of readinga program or data stored in the recording medium to display it on thedisplay portion, and a function of sharing information with anotherportable game machine by wireless communication. Note that a function ofthe portable game machine illustrated in FIG. 22A is not limited tothose described above, and the portable game machine can have a varietyof functions.

FIG. 22B illustrates an example of a slot machine 9900 which is alarge-sized game machine. In the slot machine 9900, a display portion9903 is incorporated in a housing 9901. In addition, the slot machine9900 includes an operation means such as a start lever or a stop switch,a coin slot, a speaker, and the like. Needless to say, the structure ofthe slot machine 9900 is not limited to the above and other structuresprovided with at least the semiconductor device disclosed in thisspecification may be employed. The slot machine 9900 may include otheraccessory equipment as appropriate.

FIG. 23A is a perspective view illustrating an example of a portablecomputer.

In the portable computer illustrated in FIG. 23A, a top housing 9301having a display portion 9303 and a bottom housing 9302 having akeyboard 9304 can overlap with each other by closing hinge unit whichconnects the top housing 9301 and the bottom housing 9302. The portablecomputer illustrated in FIG. 23A is conveniently carried. Moreover, inthe case of using the keyboard for input of data, the hinge unit isopened so that a user can input data looking at the display portion9303.

The bottom housing 9302 includes a pointing device 9306 with which inputcan be performed, in addition to the keyboard 9304. When the displayportion 9303 is a touch panel, a user can input data by touching part ofthe display portion. The bottom housing 9302 includes an arithmeticfunction portion such as a CPU or hard disk. In addition, the bottomhousing 9302 includes an external connection port 9305 into whichanother device, for example, a communication cable conformable tocommunication standards of a USB is inserted.

The top housing 9301 further includes a display portion 9307 which canbe stored in the top housing 9301 by being slid therein. With thedisplay portion 9370, a large display screen can be realized. Inaddition, a user can adjust the angle of a screen of the display portion9307 which can be stored. If the display portion 9307 which can bestored is a touch panel, the user can input data by touching part of thedisplay portion 9307 which can be stored.

The display portion 9303 or the display portion 9307 which can be storedin the top housing 9301 is formed using an image display device such asa liquid crystal display panel or a light-emitting display panel usingan organic light-emitting element, an inorganic light-emitting element,or the like.

In addition, the portable computer illustrated in FIG. 23A can beprovided with a receiver and the like and can receive a TV broadcast todisplay an image on the display portion. The user can watch a TVbroadcast with the whole screen of the display portion 9307 by slidingand exposing the display portion 9370 and adjusting the angle thereof,with the hinge unit which connects the top housing 9301 and the bottomhousing 9302 closed. In this case, the hinge unit is not opened anddisplay is not performed on the display portion 9303. In addition, startup of only a circuit for displaying a TV broadcast is performed. Thus,power consumption can be minimized, which is useful for the portablecomputer whose battery capacity is limited.

FIG. 23B is a perspective view of an example of a mobile phone that theuser can wear on the wrist like a wristwatch.

This mobile phone is formed with a main body which includes acommunication device including at least a telephone function, and abattery; a band portion 9204 which enables the main body to be worn onthe wrist; an adjusting portion 9205 for adjusting the band portion 9204to be fitted to the wrist; a display portion 9201; a speaker 9207; and amicrophone 9208.

In addition, the main body includes operation switches 9203. Theoperation switches 9203 can have respective functions, for example, canserve as a switch for starting a program for the Internet when a buttonis pushed, in addition to serving as a power switch, a switch forswitching displays, a switch for instruction to start taking images, orthe like.

A user can input data into this mobile phone by touching the displayportion 9201 with a finger or an input pen, operating the operationswitches 9203, or inputting voice into the microphone 9208. In FIG. 23B,display buttons 9202 are displayed on the display portion 9201. A usercan input data by touching the display buttons 9202 with a finger or thelike.

Further, the main body includes a camera portion 9206 including an imagepick-up means which converts an image of an object, which is formedthrough a camera lens, to an electronic image signal. Note that thecamera portion is not necessarily provided.

The mobile phone illustrated in FIG. 23B is provided with a receiver ofa TV broadcast and the like, and can display an image on the displayportion 9201 by receiving the TV broadcast. In addition, the mobilephone can be provided with a memory device such as a memory, and thelike, and can record the TV broadcast in the memory. The mobile phoneillustrated in FIG. 23B may have a function of collecting locationinformation such as GPS.

An image display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or alight-emitting display panel using an organic light-emitting element, aninorganic light-emitting element, or the like is used as the displayportion 9201. The mobile phone illustrated in FIG. 23B is compact andlightweight and the battery capacity is limited. For the above reason, apanel which can be driven with low power consumption is preferably usedas a display device for the display portion 9201.

Note that although FIG. 23B illustrates the electronic device which isworn on the wrist, this embodiment is not limited thereto as long as anelectronic device is portable.

Embodiment 15

In this embodiment, as one mode of a semiconductor device, examples of adisplay device including the thin film transistor described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 24 to FIG.37. In this embodiment, examples of a liquid crystal display device inwhich a liquid crystal element is used as a display element will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 24 to FIG. 37. The thin film transistordescribed in any of Embodiments 1 to 5 can be used as TFTs 628 and 629used in each of the liquid crystal display devices in FIG. 24 to FIG.37. The TFTs 628 and 629 can be manufactured through a process similarto that described in any of Embodiments 1 to 5 and have excellentelectrical characteristics and high reliability. The TFT 628 and the TFT629 are channel-etched thin film transistors in each of which a channelformation region is formed using an oxide semiconductor layer.

First, a vertical alignment (VA) liquid crystal display device isdescribed. The VA liquid crystal display device has a kind of form inwhich alignment of liquid crystal molecules of a liquid crystal displaypanel is controlled. In the VA liquid crystal display device, liquidcrystal molecules are aligned in a vertical direction with respect to apanel surface when no voltage is applied. In this embodiment, inparticular, a pixel is divided into some regions (sub-pixels), andmolecules are aligned in different directions in their respectiveregions. This is referred to as multi-domain or multi-domain design.Liquid crystal display devices of the multi-domain design are describedbelow.

FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 illustrate a pixel electrode and a counterelectrode, respectively. FIG. 25 is a plan view showing the substrateside where the pixel electrode is formed. FIG. 24 illustrates across-sectional structure taken along section line E-F in FIG. 25. FIG.26 is a plan view showing the substrate side where the counter electrodeis formed. Description below is made with reference to those drawings.

In FIG. 24, a substrate 600 provided with a TFT 628, a pixel electrodelayer 624 connected to the TFT 628, and a storage capacitor portion 630overlaps with a counter substrate 601 provided with a counter electrodelayer 640 and the like, and liquid crystals are injected between thesubstrate 600 and the counter substrate 601.

The counter substrate 601 is provided with a coloring film 636 and thecounter electrode layer 640, and protrusions 644 are formed on thecounter electrode layer 640. An alignment film 648 is formed over thepixel electrode layer 624, and an alignment film 646 is similarly formedon the counter electrode layer 640 and the protrusions 644. A liquidcrystal layer 650 is formed between the substrate 600 and the countersubstrate 601.

The TFT 628, the pixel electrode layer 624 connected to the TFT 628, andthe storage capacitor portion 630 are formed over the substrate 600. Thepixel electrode layer 624 is connected to the TFT 628, that is,connected to a wiring 618 a and a wiring 618 b through a contact hole623 which penetrates an insulating film 620 which covers the storagecapacitor portion 630, an insulating film 696 which covers theinsulating film 620, and an insulating film 622 which covers theinsulating film 696. The thin film transistor described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 5 can be used as the TFT 628 as appropriate. Further,the storage capacitor portion 630 includes a first capacitor wiring 604which is formed at the same time as a gate wiring 602 of the TFT 628, agate insulating film, and a second capacitor wiring 617 a and a secondcapacitor wiring 617 b formed at the same time as a wiring 616.

The pixel electrode layer 624, the liquid crystal layer 650, and thecounter electrode layer 640 overlap with each other, whereby a liquidcrystal element is formed.

For example, the pixel electrode layer 624 is formed using the materialdescribed in Embodiment 1. The pixel electrode layer 624 is providedwith slits 625. The slits 625 are provided for controlling the alignmentof the liquid crystals.

A TFT 629, a pixel electrode layer 626 connected to the TFT 629, and astorage capacitor portion 631 which are illustrated in FIG. 25 can beformed in a manner similar to that of the TFT 628, the pixel electrodelayer 624, and the storage capacitor portion 630. Both the TFTs 628 and629 are connected to the wiring 616. One pixel of this liquid crystaldisplay panel includes the pixel electrode layers 624 and 626.

FIG. 26 illustrates a planar structure of the counter substrate side.The counter electrode layer 640 is preferably formed using a materialsimilar to that of the pixel electrode layer 624. The protrusions 644which control the alignment of the liquid crystals are formed on thecounter electrode layer 640. Note that in FIG. 26, the pixel electrodelayers 624 and 626 are represented by dashed lines, and the counterelectrode layer 640 and the pixel electrode layers 624 and 626 overlapwith each other.

FIG. 27 illustrates an equivalent circuit of this pixel structure. Boththe TFTs 628 and 629 are connected to the gate wiring 602 and the wiring616. In that case, when potentials of the capacitor wiring 604 and acapacitor wiring 605 are different from each other, operations of liquidcrystal elements 651 and 652 can vary. In other words, by separatecontrol of potentials of the capacitor wirings 604 and 605, thealignment of the liquid crystals is precisely controlled and a viewingangle is increased.

When a voltage is applied to the pixel electrode layer 624 provided withthe slits 625, a distorted electric field (an oblique electric field) isgenerated in the vicinity of the slits 625. The protrusions 644 on thecounter substrate 601 side and the slits 625 are alternately arranged sothat the oblique electric field is effectively generated to control thealignment of the liquid crystals, whereby the direction of the alignmentof the liquid crystals varies depending on the location. In other words,a viewing angle of the liquid crystal display panel is increased bymulti-domain.

Next, a VA liquid crystal display device, which is different from theabove-described device, will be described with reference to FIG. 28,FIG. 29, FIG. 30, and FIG. 31.

FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 illustrate a pixel structure of a VA liquid crystaldisplay panel. FIG. 29 is a plan view of a substrate 600. FIG. 28illustrates a cross-sectional structure along section line Y-Z in FIG.29. Description below will be given with reference to both the drawings.

In this pixel structure, a plurality of pixel electrodes are provided inone pixel, and a TFT is connected to each of the pixel electrodes. Theplurality of TFTs are driven by different gate signals. In other words,signals applied to individual pixel electrodes in a multi-domain pixelare controlled independently of each other.

A pixel electrode layer 624 is connected to a TFT 628 via a wiring 618through a contact hole 623 penetrating insulating films 620, 696, and622. A pixel electrode layer 626 is connected to a TFT 629 via a wiring619 through a contact hole 627 penetrating the insulating films 620,696, and 622. A gate wiring 602 of the TFT 628 is separated from a gatewiring 603 of the TFT 629 so that different gate signals can besupplied. On the other hand, a wiring 616 serving as a data line isshared by the TFTs 628 and 629. The thin film transistor described inany of Embodiments 1 to 5 can be used as appropriate as each of the TFTs628 and 629. Note that a first gate insulating film 606 a and a secondgate insulating film 606 b are formed over the gate wiring 602, the gatewiring 603, and a capacitor wiring 690.

The shape of the pixel electrode layer 624 is different from that of thepixel electrode layer 626, and the pixel electrode layers are separatedby slits 625. The pixel electrode layer 626 is formed so as to surroundthe external side of the pixel electrode layer 624 which spreads into aV shape. A voltage applied to the pixel electrode layer 624 by a TFT 628is made different from a voltage applied to the pixel electrode layer626 by a TFT 629, whereby alignment of liquid crystals is controlled.FIG. 31 illustrates an equivalent circuit of this pixel structure. TheTFT 628 is connected to the gate wiring 602, and the TFT 629 isconnected to the gate wiring 603. Both the TFTs 628 and 629 areconnected to the wiring 616. When different gate signals are supplied tothe gate wirings 602 and 603, operations of liquid crystal elements 651and 652 can vary. In other words, the operations of the TFTs 628 and 629are controlled separately to precisely control the alignment of theliquid crystals in the liquid crystal elements 651 and 652, which leadsto a wider viewing angle.

A counter substrate 601 is provided with a coloring film 636 and acounter electrode layer 640. A planarization film 637 is formed betweenthe coloring film 636 and the counter electrode layer 640 to preventalignment disorder of the liquid crystals. FIG. 30 illustrates a planarstructure of the counter substrate side. The counter electrode layer 640is an electrode shared by different pixels and slits 641 are formed. Theslits 641 and the slits 625 in the pixel electrode layers 624 and 626are alternately arranged so that an oblique electric field iseffectively generated, whereby the alignment of the liquid crystals canbe controlled. Accordingly, the direction of the alignment of the liquidcrystals can vary depending on the location, which leads to a widerviewing angle. Note that in FIG. 30, the pixel electrode layers 624 and626 formed over the substrate 600 are represented by dashed lines andthe counter electrode layer 640 and the pixel electrode layers 624 and626 overlap with each other.

An alignment film 648 is formed over the pixel electrode layer 624 andthe pixel electrode layer 626, and the counter electrode layer 640 issimilarly provided with an alignment film 646. A liquid crystal layer650 is formed between the substrate 600 and the counter substrate 601.The pixel electrode layer 624, the liquid crystal layer 650, and thecounter electrode layer 640 overlap with each other to form a firstliquid crystal element. The pixel electrode layer 626, the liquidcrystal layer 650, and the counter electrode layer 640 overlap with eachother to form a second liquid crystal element. The pixel structure ofthe display panel illustrated in FIG. 28, FIG. 29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, andFIG. 32 is a multi-domain structure in which the first liquid crystalelement and the second liquid crystal element are provided in one pixel.

Next, a liquid crystal display device in a horizontal electric fieldmode is described. In the horizontal electric field mode, an electricfield is applied in a horizontal direction with respect to liquidcrystal molecules in a cell, whereby liquid crystals are driven toexpress a gray scale. With this method, a viewing angle can be increasedto about 180°. Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display device in thehorizontal electric field mode is described.

In FIG. 32, a substrate 600 over which an electrode layer 607, a TFT628, and a pixel electrode layer 624 connected to the TFT 628 are formedoverlaps with a counter substrate 601, and liquid crystals are injectedbetween the substrate 600 and the counter substrate 601. The countersubstrate 601 is provided with a coloring film 636, a planarization film637, and the like. Note that a counter electrode is not provided on thecounter substrate 601 side. In addition, a liquid crystal layer 650 isformed between the substrate 600 and the counter substrate 601, and thealignment films 646 and 648 are provided between the liquid crystallayer 650 and the substrate 600 and the counter substrate 601.

The electrode layer 607, a capacitor wiring 604 connected to theelectrode layer 607, and the TFT 628 which is a thin film transistordescribed in any of Embodiments 1 to 5 are formed over the substrate600. The capacitor wiring 604 can be formed at the same time as a gatewiring 602 of the TFT 628. The thin film transistor described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 5 can be used as the TFT 628. The electrode layer 607can be formed using a material similar to that of the pixel electrodelayer described in any of Embodiments 1 to 5. The electrode layer 607 isdivided almost in a pixel form. Note that a gate insulating film 606 isformed over the electrode layer 607 and the capacitor wiring 604.

Wirings 616 and 618 of the TFT 628 are formed over the gate insulatingfilm 606. The wiring 616 is a data line through which a video signaltravels, extends in one direction in a liquid crystal display panel, andfunctions as one of source and drain electrodes of the TFT 628. Thewiring 618 functions as the other of the source and drain electrodes andis connected to the pixel electrode layer 624.

An insulating film 620 is formed over the wirings 616 and 618, and aninsulating film 696 is formed over the insulating film 620. Over theinsulating film 696, the pixel electrode layer 624 which is to beconnected to the wiring 618 through a contact hole 623 formed in theinsulating films 620 and 696 is formed. The pixel electrode layer 624 isformed using a material similar to that of the pixel electrode describedin any of Embodiments 1 to 5.

In such a manner, the TFT 628 and the pixel electrode layer 624connected to the TFT 628 are formed over the substrate 600. Note that astorage capacitor is formed with the electrode layer 607 and the pixelelectrode layer 624.

FIG. 33 is a plan view illustrating the structure of the pixelelectrode. FIG. 32 illustrates a cross-sectional structure along lineO-P in FIG. 33. The pixel electrode layer 624 is provided with slits625. The slits 625 are provided for controlling alignment of liquidcrystals. In that case, an electric field is generated between theelectrode layer 607 and the pixel electrode layer 624. The thickness ofthe gate insulating film 606 formed between the electrode layer 607 andthe pixel electrode layer 624 is 50 nm to 200 nm, which is much smallerthan the thickness of the liquid crystal layer of 2 μm to 10 μm. Thus,an electric field is generated substantially in parallel (in ahorizontal direction) to the substrate 600. The alignment of the liquidcrystals is controlled with this electric field. Liquid crystalmolecules are horizontally rotated with the use of the electric field inthe direction substantially parallel to the substrate. In that case, theliquid crystal molecules are horizontally aligned in any state, and thusthe contrast or the like is less influenced by the viewing angle, whichleads to a wider viewing angle. In addition, since both the electrodelayer 607 and the pixel electrode layer 624 are light-transmittingelectrodes, the aperture ratio can be improved.

Next, a different example of the liquid crystal display device in thehorizontal electric field mode is described.

FIG. 34 and FIG. 35 illustrate a pixel structure of a liquid crystaldisplay device in an IPS mode. FIG. 35 is a plan view. FIG. 34illustrates a cross-sectional structure along line V-W in FIG. 35.Description below is given with reference to both the drawings.

In FIG. 34, a substrate 600 over which a TFT 628 and a pixel electrodelayer 624 connected to the TFT 628 are formed overlaps with a countersubstrate 601, and liquid crystals are injected between the substrate600 and the counter substrate 601. The counter substrate 601 is providedwith a coloring film 636, a planarization film 637, and the like. Notethat a counter electrode is not provided on the counter substrate 601side. A liquid crystal layer 650 is formed between the substrate 600 andthe counter substrate 601, and the alignment films 646 and 648 areprovided between the liquid crystal layer 650 and the substrate 600 andthe counter substrate 601.

A common potential line 609 and the TFT 628 described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 5 are formed over the substrate 600. The commonpotential line 609 can be formed at the same time as a gate wiring 602of the TFT 628. The thin film transistor described in any of Embodiments1 to 5 can be used as the TFT 628.

Wirings 616 and 618 of the TFT 628 are formed over a gate insulatingfilm 606. The wiring 616 is a data line through which a video signaltravels, extends in one direction in a liquid crystal display panel, andfunctions as one of source and drain electrodes of the TFT 628. Thewiring 618 functions as the other of the source and drain electrodes andis connected to a pixel electrode layer 624.

An insulating film 620 is formed over the wirings 616 and 618, and aninsulating film 696 is formed over the insulating film 620. Over theinsulating film 696, the pixel electrode layer 624 which is to beconnected to the wiring 618 through a contact hole 623 formed in theinsulating films 620 and 696 is formed. The pixel electrode layer 624 isformed using a material similar to that of the pixel electrode describedin any of Embodiments 1 to 5. Note that, as illustrated in FIG. 35, thepixel electrode layer 624 is formed such that the pixel electrode layer624 and a comb-like electrode that is formed at the same time as thecommon potential line 609 can generate a horizontal electric field.Further, the pixel electrode layer 624 is formed so that comb-teethportions of the pixel electrode layer 624 and those of the comb-likeelectrode that is formed at the same time as the common potential line609 are alternately arranged.

The alignment of the liquid crystals is controlled by an electric fieldgenerated between a potential applied to the pixel electrode layer 624and a potential of the common potential line 609. Liquid crystalmolecules are horizontally rotated with the use of the electric field inthe direction substantially parallel to the substrate. In that case, theliquid crystal molecules are horizontally aligned in any state, and thusthe contrast or the like is less influenced by the viewing angle, whichleads to a wider viewing angle.

In such a manner, the TFT 628 and the pixel electrode layer 624connected to the TFT 628 are formed over the substrate 600. A storagecapacitor is formed with a gate insulating film 606, the commonpotential line 609, and a capacitor electrode 615. The capacitorelectrode 615 and the pixel electrode layer 624 are connected to eachother through a contact hole 633.

Next, a mode of a liquid crystal display device in a TN mode isdescribed.

FIG. 36 and FIG. 37 illustrate a pixel structure of a liquid crystaldisplay device in a TN mode. FIG. 37 is a plan view. FIG. 36 illustratesa cross-sectional structure along line K-L in FIG. 37. Description belowis given with reference to both the drawings.

A pixel electrode layer 624 is connected to a TFT 628 via a wiring 618through a contact hole 623 formed in insulating films 620 and 696. Awiring 616 functioning as a data line is connected to the TFT 628. TheTFT described in any of Embodiments 1 to 5 can be used as the TFT 628.

The pixel electrode layer 624 is formed using the pixel electrodedescribed in any of Embodiments 1 to 5. A capacitor wiring 604 can beformed at the same time as a gate wiring 602 of the TFT 628. A gateinsulating film 606 is formed over the gate wiring 602 and the capacitorwiring 604. A storage capacitor is formed using the capacitor wiring604, a capacitor electrode 615, and the gate insulating film 606 betweenthe capacitor wiring 604 and the capacitor electrode 615. The capacitorelectrode 615 and the pixel electrode layer 624 are connected to eachother through a contact hole 633.

A counter substrate 601 is provided with a coloring film 636 and acounter electrode layer 640. A planarization film 637 is formed betweenthe coloring film 636 and the counter electrode layer 640 to preventalignment disorder of liquid crystals. A liquid crystal layer 650 isformed between the pixel electrode layer 624 and the counter electrodelayer 640 with alignment films 646 and 648 therebetween.

The pixel electrode layer 624, the liquid crystal layer 650, and thecounter electrode layer 640 overlap with each other, whereby a liquidcrystal element is formed.

The coloring film 636 may be formed on the substrate 600 side. Apolarizing plate is attached to a surface of the substrate 600, which isthe reverse of the surface provided with the thin film transistor, andanother polarizing plate is attached to a surface of the countersubstrate 601, which is the reverse of the surface provided with thecounter electrode layer 640.

Through the above-described process, liquid crystal display devices canbe manufactured as display devices. The liquid crystal display devicesof this embodiment each have a high aperture ratio.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial no.2009-169599 filed with Japan Patent Office on Jul. 18, 2009, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. (canceled)
 2. An electronic device comprising: a band portionconfigured to be worn on a wrist; a display portion configured todisplay a button on a screen; and a battery, wherein the battery isconfigured to supply a power to the display portion, wherein theelectronic device is configured such that data is input by touching thebutton, wherein the display portion comprises a pixel portion comprisingan organic light-emitting element and a first transistor, and whereinthe first transistor comprises an oxide semiconductor layer.
 3. Theelectronic device according to claim 2, wherein the oxide semiconductorlayer comprises In, Ga, Zn and O.
 4. The electronic device according toclaim 2, wherein the pixel portion further comprises anelectroluminescence element.
 5. The electronic device according to claim2, wherein the pixel portion further comprises a liquid crystal element.6. The electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising acamera portion.
 7. An electronic device comprising: a band portionconfigured to be worn on a wrist; a display portion configured todisplay a button on a screen; a battery; and a communication device,wherein the communication device is configured to function as atelephone, wherein the battery is configured to supply a power to thedisplay portion, wherein the electronic device is configured such thatdata is input by touching the button, wherein the display portioncomprises a pixel portion comprising an organic light-emitting elementand a first transistor, and wherein the first transistor comprises anoxide semiconductor layer.
 8. The electronic device according to claim7, wherein the oxide semiconductor layer comprises In, Ga, Zn and O. 9.The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the pixel portionfurther comprises an electroluminescence element.
 10. The electronicdevice according to claim 7, wherein the pixel portion further comprisesa liquid crystal element.
 11. The electronic device according to claim7, further comprising a camera portion.
 12. An electronic devicecomprising: a band portion configured to be worn on a wrist; a displayportion configured to display a button on a screen; a battery; acommunication device; and a microphone, wherein the communication deviceis configured to function as a telephone, wherein the battery isconfigured to supply a power to the display portion, wherein theelectronic device is configured such that data is input by touching thebutton, wherein the electronic device is configured such that data isinput by inputting voice into the microphone, wherein the electronicdevice is configured to collect location information, wherein thedisplay portion comprises a pixel portion comprising a pixel circuit,wherein the pixel circuit comprises an organic light-emitting element, afirst transistor, a second transistor, a capacitor, and a wiring,wherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor iselectrically connected to one terminal of the capacitor and a gate ofthe second transistor, wherein one of a source and a drain of the secondtransistor is electrically connected to the organic light-emittingelement, wherein a gate of the first transistor is electricallyconnected to the wiring, and wherein the first transistor comprises anoxide semiconductor layer comprising In, Ga, Zn, and O.
 13. Theelectronic device according to claim 12, wherein the pixel portionfurther comprises an electroluminescence element.
 14. The electronicdevice according to claim 12, wherein the pixel portion furthercomprises a liquid crystal element.
 15. The electronic device accordingto claim 12, further comprising a camera portion.
 16. The electronicdevice according to claim 12, wherein the wiring is a scan line.